


The Void Between

by Umbra_Corvum



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Narcissa Black Malfoy, Creature Harry, Dumbledore Tries His Best, Good Lucius Malfoy, He's Just A Dick, He's Still A Good Dad Though, He's not evil though, Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy Friendship, Just A Terrible Human Being, Lucius Malfoy Being an Asshole, M/M, POV Multiple, Possessive Harry, Ravenclaw Hermione Granger, Ron sucks, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-11 11:12:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 26,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15314253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbra_Corvum/pseuds/Umbra_Corvum
Summary: On Draco’s 11th birthday, Lucius find a creature in Draco’s bedroom while Draco sleeps. The creature is extremely powerful, something Lucius has never seen before, and seems incredibly interested in Draco. Jesus that sounds terrible when I write it out like that. Not changing it though. ABANDONED IN FAVOR OF REWRITE. Which you can find on my profile.





	1. A Creature In The Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi all. My formatting is probably a bit off and terrible, and I apologize for that, but I’ve never been particularly good at things like that so what can I do. Please enjoy. I know this chapter is like, really short, but it made sense to end it there and I’ll definitely try to make to other chapters quite a bit longer. Oh yeah, also, like saying these things now, cuz they’re apparently things I’m obligated to say. I’m poor and own nothing, this is slash, but not yet, due to Draco being 11. I think that’s it.

 

Lucius quietly walked down the hallway, and cracked the door to his son’s room. Once he saw that Draco was sound asleep, he slipped in and walked over to the bed. Lucius couldn’t show it, especially not now, not when his son was about to enter Hogwarts, about to become vulnerable, but he really did love his son. He could show affection for Narcissa, she was a formidable witch, more than capable of defending herself. But until Draco was stronger, Lucius could show naught but indifference, for simple fear that his enemies would seize upon it as a weakness and put Draco in danger. Lucius looked down on his slumbering son, and bent down to place a kiss on his pale forehead, only to stop and draw back rapidly, hand going to his wand as he heard a low hiss from behind him. As Lucius turned, his eyes widened at the bright green light they saw, and acting on pure instinct, he threw himself sideways, out of the path of the deadly curse. It was only after he had landed and drawn his wand that he noticed the origins of the green light were not a wand, but rather a pair of eyes, brightly glowing against the darkness of the room. Seeing no signs of aggression, Lucius warily lifted himself off the ground, pointing his wand at where a body should be.

 

“Get out of my manor before I end your life.” Lucius spat, furious that somebody had managed to intrude upon his home.

 

There was no immediate response from the being in the shadows, but as Lucius readied himself to cast the killing curse, the being moved forward faster then he could react. Refusing to retreat, Lucius found himself looking slightly up, into the face of the nocturnal intruder. What he saw almost made him pull back anyway. The intruder was not a human, nor any magical race Lucius had seen before. Large horns rose up from its forehead, and in its slightly opened mouth he saw fangs. As the shadows behind the figure moved, he realized that what he had assumed was normal darkness was in fact a great pair of feathered wings, blacker than pitch. As the creature bent it’s face down, Lucius did finally back up slightly, and warily watched the figure.

 

“Mine.” The figure growled out.

 

Lucius had had a long day, and the shock of finding an intruder in his son’s room had basically removed any further ability or desire to work out the meaning of this statement.

 

“What in Merlin’s name are you talking about?” Lucius questioned wearily.

 

The creature leaned back slightly, bringing forward one of its hands (which Lucius noted offhand, had claws ending each finger). As the being held its hand out flat, an orb of softly glowing light formed above it. In the orb, Lucius saw his son, moments from the past day playing out, he saw Draco, opening presents, laughing in delight, hugging him and Narcissa. As Lucius looked from the orb back to the creature's face, a horrifying realization struck him, a thought that was confirmed when the being spoke again.

 

“Mine.” It repeated, speaking in the same growled voice.

 

Lucius’ fears confirmed, he started casting all manner of harmful spells as he spat out his next words; “How dare you come in here, invade my house, and try to lay some sort of claim in my son!”

 

Even with his strong words, however, Lucius’ heart began to sink as the spells he cast had no effect on the figure in front of him. He continued resolutely, but the more spells he cast to no effect, the more despair began to overtake his mind. Suddenly the creature once again moved to fast for Lucius to track or react to, one of the being’s clawed band coming to rest on Lucius’ forehead, and the world melting away around him.

 

As the world came back into focus, Lucius whipped his head around frantically, eyes darting over a landscape, a scene completely unlike his previous location. Around him was a city, filled with building that were either in ruins, or proceeding towards that point. Around him he saw humanoid figure shift and move through the buildings, as explosions sounded and fire rained from the sky’s. He saw no trace of the creature anywhere around him as he reached for his wand, preparing to apparate out of whatever hellscape he had found himself in. Panic set in, however, as his wand was nowhere on him, as he was neither powerful enough, nor skilled enough to pull off wandless apparition. He warily began to move forward, breaking into a run when he heard a massive explosion right behind him, and a shadow fell over him. Realizing he was not fast enough, Lucius turned, and saw a massive portion of a building falling down, about to land right on top of him. Bracing himself for impact, in his last moments, Lucius felt… nothing? Lucius looked around in shock, for he was standing inside of the building, a metal girder running through the same space as his head. Realization hit him like a lightning bolt. He was inside a vision. While this was comforting, in that it made it significantly less likely he was going to die, it was also disconcerting, as it meant the creature had not only breached his occlumency shields, a feat The Dark Lord hadn’t managed, but that it had been done with no visible effort on the creature’s part. Knowing he resided in a vision, he drifted forward, searching the landscape, looking for what he had been sent here to find, knowing he couldn’t leave until he did so. Eventually, after what felt like hours, and maybe even days, Lucius found something different from the rest of the vision. In the middle of the collapsing city there was a tall winged humanoid, curled protectively over something Lucius could not see. As a metallic object (something Lucius recognized as a bomb from his forays into Muggle Studies) fell from the sky, directly towards the figure, it struck a suddenly materializing shield, formed from energy the same color as the killing curse. After the smoke and fire cleared, the figure moved slightly, turning as one of its wings uncurled, letting Lucius see what it was protecting. His eyes widened slightly as he saw his son, a peaceful and happy look on Draco’s face. Lucius moved his head to look at the figure, the creature in his Draco’s room, and as he met its eyes, as a surge of emotions swept through his mind, each new emotion coming with a greater rush of urgency and strength. Honesty. Concern. Wanting. Protectiveness. Caring.

 

Lucius pulled his eyes away from where they had locked with the creature’s, and realized that he was back in reality, standing next to Draco’s bed.

 

“Mine. Forever.” Spoke the creature one last time, before withdrawing back into the shadows at the edge of the room.

 

There was a conviction in that statement, especially in the second word, that made it seem less like a word, and more like a statement of an undeniable truth. Lucius thought back to the vision. Maybe it was more than a simple mental construct? He wondered, before pushing it out of his mind. Down that line of thought, only despair lay waiting. Turning his wand away from the creature, and towards Draco’s bed, Lucius cast the strongest protective wards he could manage, knowing already that they would be useless. Anything that could bypass the shields on both his house and his mind with little effort, and while leaving no trace would hardly notice such hurriedly placed wards. Still, there was little he could do but hope that the feelings he received in the vision were real, and not the creations of a superior Occlumens. There wasn’t anything he could do right now, especially when he had no idea what the creature was. Shaking, he left Draco’s room, and slowly walked back to his own, hearing Narcissa’s voice as he opened the door.

 

“Where have you been dear? You went to check on Draco over an hour ago. Surely he wasn’t still awake at this hour?” She said nonchalantly, until she saw the look on her husbands face, and the way his hands were shaking, and her face went pale.

 

“Narcissa, I,” Lucius managed to get out before he gave up, looked her in the eye, lowered his shields and simply said, “Please?”

 

Lucius felt Narcissa comb gently through his mind, looking for the source of his distress. Of the two of them, she was the superior Legilimens, by quite a significant margin. Lucius’ talents, especially in that area had always been more defensive. She quickly went over the events of that night, and when she finished, she wrapped her arms around Lucius and placed a kiss on his cheek.

 

“It’s ok my love. It, he, did nothing to hurt Draco. And if those feelings were real, then Draco has gained a powerful protector today. And if they weren’t, well tomorrow we will start looking into the creature. We will find his weaknesses, and if we have to, we will kill him.” Narcissa finished softly, but with an edge to her voice.

 

Lucius gave a bitter chuckle as he responded, “Do you really think we can find a way to kill something that powerful? It took the killing curse without flinching.”

 

Narcissa’s face hardened at those words, and the words she spoke next were laced with steel, “Anything that lives can die. And anything that can die can be killed. Nothing is invincible, and if he even thinks about hurting Draco he’ll find out exactly how fragile he really is.”

 

Lucius’ last words before he fell asleep were nothing more than a whisper, an expression of the helplessness and worry he was feeling. “Nothing we know of is invincible. But this is something we’ve never seen.”

 

After Lucius dozed off in her arms, Narcissa laid him down on the bed, before getting up and quietly exiting the room. She did not return until dawn began to creep across the sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hope that wasn’t to bad. If you notice any glaring mistakes in grammar and the like, please do inform me (try to be kind though). I’m not good at grammar and probably never will be. Oh yeah. Also, Narcissa is one of my favorite characters. I adore her.


	2. A Visit To Gringotts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is the second chapter, which was written immediately after the first one. So if you guys brought up any huge issues I didn’t address, well, I’m sorry, but not much I can do yet? I guess? Anyway. This is an in advance apology for not understanding how 11 year old act, and not remembering how I acted. So like, Draco is prooobably gonna act way to mature for an 11 year old, and I’m sorry for that. If I ever figure out how to write like a child, I’ll come back and fix this. Also I don’t own anything.

 

Draco opened his eyes, sat up and yawned. Yesterday had been exhausting, but in a good way. As he got up from his bed and walked to the bathroom, suddenly all the hair on his body stood up, and he felt a sensation of almost burning warmth. Draco recognized it as a friendly ward, but was confused as to why there would be wards around his bed. He knew his father was paranoid, but he’d never done that before. As he went through his morning routine, making sure he looked impeccable, as was befitting a Malfoy, he remembered that his father was going to take him shopping for school supplies today, which meant he got his wand! He couldn’t wait to have his own wand! His father had let Draco try his wand, but everybody knew that a wand meant for you was much more powerful. Now very excited about what the day would hold, Draco practically ran down the stairs to the dining room expecting his parents to be there waiting for him so that they could start breakfast. When he found only his mother, he reigned in his excitement a bit, confused by his father’s unusual absence. After all, his family had always eaten breakfast together for as long as he could remember. His father’s busy ministry schedule meant that he would often stay late into the night, so couldn’t always make it home for dinner, but he made a point of always eating breakfast with the family, flooing into the manor when he was away. The only times he’s ever missed breakfast was when he was injured or sick.

 

“Mother, where is Father? Is he ok?” Draco questioned, hoping it was nothing serious.

 

Narcissa stayed silent for a moment, and then gave Draco a small smile, which to a close observer would look a tad bit forced, before responding, “Something extremely urgent came up. Your father is fine, but he’s busy and might not be around for the next couple of days.”

 

“What’s father doing? When will I get my school stuff? Why wouldn’t he come to breakfast?” Draco rattled off, barely pausing to breathe.

 

“Sit down and eat Draco darling,” Narcissa responded, and as he did so, she continued, “I can’t tell you what your Father is doing because I don’t know. All I know is that he was called into the Department of Mysteries, and he isn’t allowed to leave at all for a few days. As for your school stuff, you’ll still be getting it today, but I’ll be taking you. We’ll leave as soon as breakfast is over.”

 

Satisfied for now, Draco began eating hurriedly, excited to get his wand and other school supplies. He did slow down a bit when his mother admonished him, but he still finished eating in record time.

 

**Later That Day**

 

Narcissa watched as Draco excitedly exited the floo into Gringotts. She quietly told him to calm down, smiling fondly when he nodded without really listening. Despite obviously wanting to be at Ollivander’s right now, Draco obediently followed her up to the teller.

 

“Greetings Master Goblin,” Narcissa started, managing to maintain a tone of both respect and quiet superiority, “I would like to access the Black vaults today, and possibly make some withdrawals.”

 

“Of course, Lady Malfoy, I’ll just need to verify your key,” the goblin responded, using the same almost condescending tone, before checking the key he was presented and handing it back nodding, “the young Heir Malfoy will have to stay in one of our waiting rooms, as he is not yet confirmed by the Black vaults.”

 

Narcissa merely nodded, as Gringotts’ guards were some of the best in the world, and allowed herself to be led to the room of the Black account manager, an elderly goblin by the name of Nagnok.

 

As Narcissa sat down, Nagnok spoke, “Welcome Miss Black. It’s a pleasure to see you as always. Same to you Heir Malfoy. You can wait here while your mother peruses the Black vaults.”

 

As Draco nodded, Narcissa responded, “It’s Lady Malfoy,  Master Nagnok, as I’m sure you’re aware. Shall we?”

 

As Nagnok stood up and exited the room she followed, and they both rode the cart down to the lowest levels of the bank. As they entered the vault and Narcissa began looking around, searching through the tomes, both dark and light, for volumes on powerful creatures, Nagnok once again spoke.

 

“You do realize,  don’t you Narcissa, that you’ve brought a creature of great and terrible power into our bank?” Nagnok inquired, more familiar in his tone within the privacy granted by the vault.

 

Narcissa turned quickly at this remark, kneeling down to speak with Nagnok face to face, “Please, what do you know about it! I didn’t see him, how do you know he’s here? What is he? Why is he following us?”

 

“Calm down Narcissa, you’re approaching hysterical,” Nagnok said in a tone that approximated soothing, “It managed to hide itself from the sight of our elders, but the wards of Gringotts still detected it. I know next to nothing about it, but the fact that you call it a ‘he’ is interesting. Thank you for this knowledge. The wards sense no hostility from him, and that hasn’t changed at all in the time he’s been here. He’s currently staying near young Draco, which makes sense, as our elders were able to make out the faintest remnants of a mark on Draco, presumably from the creature.”

 

Narcissa latched onto the last bit of this information, concerned about what it could mean, “What kind of mark Nagnok, surely nothing like…” and here she trailed off, not wanting to voice the rest of her statement out loud.

 

“It’s not a Dark Mark Narcissa,” Nagnok assured her, and she let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, “it’s nothing so physical as that. That doesn’t mean we know what it does, just that it will be extremely difficult to detect, especially by wizards. Now, finish looking. If any of these vaults contain this kind of information, it would be this one.”

 

Narcissa finished up in the vaults rather quickly after that, and returned to take Draco to Ollivander’s. Draco ended up with a Hawthorn and unicorn hair wand. After that they travelled around, picking up the rest of Draco’s school supplies. When it came time to leave Diagon Alley, however, Narcissa hesitated, before leading Draco into Knockturn Alley. When he went to ask what they were doing she merely shushed him, before leading him into a building, which due to its lack of sign, was unidentifiable as a shop.

 

As they entered, they were greeted rather tersely by a grubby woman behind a worn desk, “What do you want?” Before she looked up, saw who it was and started over. “I apologize for my tone Lady Malfoy. How may I help you today?”

 

“It’s fine Ms. Tock. I was hoping to get a secondary wand for Draco. A secret one, just for emergencies.” Narcissa responded.

 

In truth, she didn’t know why she had brought Draco here, as the only emergency she could think of him encountering wouldn’t really be stopped by a wand. She brought him here regardless, feeling that it was something she needed to do. She stood there watching as Ms. Tock presented Draco with a variety of wands, many of which were much more unusual then those at Ollivander’s, wands which were subsequently rejected by Draco one after another. After 3 hours and a multitude of wands, both Draco and Ms. Tock were getting a little bit frustrated. That was when Narcissa watched with shock, as, when Draco was bending over to look at a wand on the bottom shelf, a figure seemingly sprang into being behind Draco. He was exactly as he had been in Lucius’ memory, and though he was only present for a moment, Narcissa was sure Ms. Tock had seen him, and maybe recognized him as well, because her eyes widened, and a look of realization spread across her face before she realized Narcissa was staring and her face went blank. While Draco continued to look at wands in the main room, Ms. Tock scurried into another room at the back of the store, and came back a few minutes later with a box.

 

“Here Mister Malfoy, why don’t you try this one?” She said as she handed him the box.

 

As Draco obediently opened up the box to try the wand, Narcissa shot Ms. Tock a questioning glare over Draco’s head to which here only response was a head shake and a mouthed “I can’t.” They were then immediately distracted by the blinding glow that resulted as Draco waved the wand, and several orbs of light shot out and bounced around the shop before quickly dissipating.

 

“Congratulations Draco! That is clearly the wand for you,” Ms. Tock exclaimed, breaking the sudden silence, “It’s elder, 14 inches, but unfortunately I cannot tell you what it has for a core. It was one of my father’s wands, and he never told me what it had for a core, and he didn’t write it down anywhere.”

 

She smiled a wide smile here that never reached her eyes, which contained more than a little bit of panic. Narcissa decided to leave the matter alone for now, and payed for the wand, thanked Ms. Tock, and then took Draco and flooed home.

 

**Later Still That Same Day**

 

In a dark room, a young blonde boy slept, and two eyes glowing green watched him. After a while, the eyes moved, and a long arm reached out of the shadows to gently pull a small, thin wooden object out from the young boys pillow. Another arm emerged from the shadows, and its clawed hand appeared to gently pull a strand of blue light out of the end of the object, before forming a fist, and sniffing out the light. The object was then placed back under the pillow, equally gently, before the arms receded back into the shadows, and the eyes resumed their watch.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don’t actually have much, if anything to say about this chapter other then I hope you enjoyed it. And it’s not quite as long as I would have liked, but I may go for shorter chapters favor of segmenting things the way I want to. Anyway, Toodles!


	3. A Mysterious Correspondance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I realized I never established this, though it’s sort of implied, but the first chapter is set on the night of Draco’s 11 birthday. For those of you who know what the date is congrats, but for everybody else, including me, who don’t, it’s on June 5th. Which is relevant, cuz this chapter takes place on June 9th. Just so like you have a concept of how much time was skipped. K. That’s my spiel. Oh yeah, also I don’t own it. K.

 

Draco opened his eyes, and got out of bed, completing his morning routine like every other morning. His morning only changed when he went downstairs and found his father at the breakfast table, both of his parents waiting for him to start breakfast.

 

“Father! You’re back! What have you been doing?” Draco babbled excitedly as he ran over to give his father a hug.

 

Lucius chuckled fondly, hugging Draco as he responded, “You know I can’t tell you where I’ve been Draco, but between you and me, it wasn’t at the Department of Mysteries.” Lucius winked as he said this, at which Draco smiled, before taking his seat and beginning to eat.

 

After breakfast was finished, Draco dragged his father into the sitting room as his mother was telling the house elves what to prepare for lunch. Once there, Draco proudly showed his father both of his wands, and the holsters his mother had given him for them. Then, he showed his father the spells he had managed to learn, which were _wingardium leviosa_ , _incendio_ , _alohomora_ , and he’d even managed a start on the summoning charm. Lucius played the roll of the dutifully impressed father, though he was actually genuinely pleased with his sons progress.

 

“Would you like me to see if your godfather would be willing to come over and start you on potions?” Lucius asked, wanting to give his son another edge over both the outside world and the other first years at Hogwarts.

 

“Yes!” Draco exclaimed exuberantly. His Godfather Severus was super cool, and great at potions, which were awesome.

 

“I’ll go check on your mother, and then I’ll floo call Severus and see if he’s free tomorrow.” Lucius said, right before Draco ran off.

 

**POV Switch**

 

As Draco ran off, the lights in the room flickered out, leaving only Lucius’ hastily whispered _lumos_ , and the green light of two glowing eyes. A hand was thrust out, palm facing Lucius, who hesitated, before slowly placing his forehead against the creature’s palm. His world melted away once again, and then he was there, watching a mildly despondent Draco walk down the stairs, look around the dining room as if expecting something, then disappointedly sit down. Similar scenes played two more times before he was thrust back into reality.

 

The hand was pulled back, and the creature spoke a single word, “Bad.” The word was spoken with a sense of finality and of warning.

 

Lucius was left to contemplate these words, as the creature receded into shadow and then vanished, the candles in the room flickering back on afterwards.

 

**The Next Day**

 

Narcissa looked apprehensively at the contents of the letter on her desk. It had arrived this morning during breakfast, carried in the talons of a rather noble looking eagle. She had pocketed it without a word, and opened it in her personal study after the meal. She reread it for the third time this morning.

 

_Dearest Narcissa,_

 

_I must say, it warms my heart that you felt able to write to me for help, even with the differences we may share. It pains me however, that I have very little to offer you. The most I can give you is this object, which I would advise you to place on Draco’s bed every night after he goes asleep, and a promise. Should the creature be benevolent, the object won’t have any effect at all, but should it be malicious in its intentions, the object should provide Draco some of the strongest protections I can offer. As for the promise, I will keep you updated on anything I find on the subject, a promise made in good faith, which I will maintain regardless of how or positions may change, as long as your faith is maintained as well. Please keep me updated with any new information you discover. While I hope for the best, this is an event which concerns me greatly._

 

The letter contained no signature, and was written in an elegant yet cramped script. As for the object, well that’s what made the apprehension begin to set in. She was almost afraid to touch it, despite the fact that it appeared to be simply a beautiful feather, a deep and vibrant orange in color. Shaking her head, she repackaged the letter, and left her study to greet Severus, who should be arriving soon.

 

**Later That Day**

 

Lucius was waiting in his study for Severus, idly sipping tea. The potions tutoring had been going on for several hours, and should be wrapping up soon. It was only a single knock on the door that alerted him of somebody before the door opened and Severus swept in, declining the offered tea and taking a seat.

 

“How are you doing Severus my friend?” Inquired Lucius, not having seen the potions master in several weeks.

 

Severus ignored the question in favor of glaring at Lucius before asking his own question in a biting tone: “You do realize that Draco has been marked since I last saw him?”

 

Lucius closed his eyes and let out a sigh before responding. “I’m unable to perceive it, but I am aware of its existence, yes.”

 

“How could you let this happen! Who or what marked him! Do you understand what this could mean?” Severus shot back, practically shouting.

 

“Believe me when I say I had no ability to stop it, and that I have absolutely no idea as to the answers to the other questions.” Lucius said, the tiredness in voice pulling Severus partly out of his anger as he gave Lucius a concerned look. “I spent 3 days in the Department of Mysteries doing nothing but looking for information and neither me nor any of the Unspeakables found anything concrete.”

 

“Let me see what you know.” Severus said, his voice much softer now, but just as demanding.

 

In response, Lucius simply looked him directly in the eyes, trusting him to find his own way around. After several minutes Severus pulled back, and sat their thinking for a moment before speaking.

 

“So you think it’s fae, a demon, or an elder god?” Severus asked, before continuing upon seeing Lucius nod, “Well I would tell her before she does something foolish. You know how she gets. If you’re correct, then you’re going to need much more preparation than you currently have.”

 

“I’ll tell her, but I doubt knowing the risks will stop her.” Lucius smiled ruefully, as Severus got up to leave.

 

**Later That Day**

 

Narcissa confirmed Draco was asleep before quietly opening his door and slipping into his room. Clutched in her left hand was the feather. She stood over Draco, watching her son sleeping peacefully, before reaching down to place the feather on his sleeping form. Before she could however, a clawed hand clamped down painfully on her wrist. She looked up and glared at the creature, his eyes glowing brightly.

 

He opened his mouth growled out a command, “No.”

 

She looked up at him, and hissed out “It’s to protect him from you.”

 

As the creature’s face morphed into a mask of confusion, she dropped the feather towards Draco, and brought her wand around, sending forth her swan patronus. The creature moved faster then her eyes could follow, dodging the patronus as it thrust its hand out towards her, purple light enveloping her vision, and as she fell the ground, the last thing she saw was him catching the feather out of the air, pulling it away, and failing to scream as the power of a Phoenix was burning its way through his hand.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  A/N: Ok I’m sorry for how short this chapter is, it wasn’t my intention, and I have the next one started, but this seems like the most logical stopping point for this chapter. So like, sorry/not sorry? Anyway, toodles.


	4. An Angry Confrontation And A Tearful Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Something Something I don’t own it. Also thanks to X for the grammar advice.

 

Lucius woke up, and not seeing Narcissa lying next to him, assumed she had gotten up early to supervise the house elves in making breakfast. He got up and got ready for breakfast. As he was walking towards the dining room, he heard Draco scream. Taking off running, he scrambled to draw his wand as he moved.

 

“Dobby!” Lucius shouted, “Get Severus!”

 

As Lucius rounded the corner, he saw Draco bolt out of his room and start coming towards him.

 

Draco saw him and starting babbling hysterically. “Mom, it’s mom, dad, she’s hurt.” Draco finished, almost in tears, following behind Lucius as he rushed into Draco’s room to find Narcissa laying perfectly still on the floor.

 

Collapsing next to her Lucius started frantically casting spells. After the seventh spell, he calmed down slightly and turned to Draco, holding him in his arms.

 

“Shhh it’s fine Draco, it’s fine, she’s still alive, she’s breathing, it’s fine calm down.” Lucius whispered, repeating it over and over again, trying to soothe Draco as he started crying.

 

He knelt there holding Draco in his arms until a pop sounded through the room, announcing the arrival of Dobby, and his passenger Severus. Lucius stood up and opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it as Severus knelt down next to Narcissa, casting spells and pulling potions out of his pouch. He led Draco out of the room to the kitchens, telling him he needed to eat.

 

**Later That Day**

 

Lucius was finally ready to go back and check on Severus and Narcissa. He’d gotten Draco to eat before hitting him with a _somnus_ and setting him to rest in the guest room, as heavily warded as Lucius could make it. He entered Draco’s room, where Severus had Narcissa levitated off the ground, and was standing there waiting for him.

 

Before Lucius could get out a word, Severus looked him right in the eyes and said, “She’s sleeping. That’s it. She’s sleeping and I can’t wake her up, but as far as I can tell there’s nothing wrong with her physically or magically. You and I both know who did this. We need to figure out what Narcissa was doing that this happened.”

 

**Later That Day**

 

“ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!” A voice roared through the headmasters office, before an explosion rocked the tower. Dumbledore stood up from his desk quickly, drawing his wand, as Fawkes launched himself from his perch to hover in front of the door screeching. The door flew open and a green light flew through the opening, hitting Fawkes square in the chest. He burst into flames and hit the floor as a baby bird. As a small object flew towards him he caught it, and upon seeing what it was, sighed and sat back down at his desk.

 

“Do come in and sit down Lucius,” he said wearily, “Please inform me how my actions have backfired on this occasion.”

 

Lucius Malfoy stormed into the Headmaster’s office, Severus Snape following not far behind.

 

“Narcissa has been cursed. Severus can’t figure out what’s wrong, but she’s fallen asleep and won’t wake up. What did you tell her to do Albus. Why is my wife laying in my bed, unable to move at all.” Lucius spat out, rage and vitriol apparent in every syllable.

 

Dumbledore paled slightly, having suspicions about what might be happening, but determined not to cause an unnecessary panic. “I merely gave her one of Fawkes’ feathers, further enchanted by myself, designed to repel the creature if it was dark or wished to harm young Draco.” Dumbledore answered wearily. “I truly wished to help. Regardless of my feelings about you and your actions, I would never do anything to harm your wife or child, or indeed even you should you desire a second chance. I’m sorry Lucius, but regardless of what the creature is, it is likely that only it can lift the enchantment.”

 

“Stay away from my family Albus. You’ve caused nothing but harm.” Lucius spat before storming back out.

 

**At The Same Time**

 

Draco opened his eyes, and looked around. He realized what his father had done (it wasn’t the first time), and called out for a house elf, immediately concerned about his mother. Mopsy was the house elf who responded, and who apparated him to his parents' room, where his mother lay, looking exactly as she had before. Draco knelt on the bed beside her as tears came back, knowing she was alive doing nothing to stop his worry, or him missing her already.

 

Draco looked around as the lights flickered out, saying only “Mopsy relight the candles” before refocusing on his mother.

 

He did react, however, when black wings wrapped around him without warning, pushing off of the bed and shoving back against somebody he’d never seen before. Draco was immediately on guard, pulling out one of his wands and pointing it at the person. Then he looked up, and saw the inhuman face and glowing green eyes. Green eyes that he recognized. They’d been in every single one of his dreams for the past several days, watching him from the shadows.

 

“Who are you?” Draco whispered, not really expecting an answer.

 

He didn’t quite get an answer, but he did get a quick rush of feelings and images, flying by too quickly to analyze.

 

“Do you have a name?” Draco tried again.

 

The creature looked at him, and then in a voice that would have sounded melodic were it not for the undertone of disuse, responded, “No.”

 

Then, the creature held out its hand palm up to Draco, who noticed its vicious looking claws for the first time. Draco made no move to take his hand, but when the creature merely stood there unmoving he eventually relented, reaching out and placing his own hand in the creature’s. As he did so, the world shifted, twisting like side along apparition, but without the discomfort. When the world came into focus, he saw, himself. Kneeling beside his mother, tears falling from his eyes. In his mind though he felt overwhelming confusion, a questioning, originating not from Draco, but from the figure beside him.

 

“Because I love her, she’s my mother. She loves me back, and we’ll do anything for one another.” Draco said, trying to make this inhuman creature understand. The confusion continued, understanding only creeping in at the very end of his statement.

 

The world changed again, to his mother, standing over Draco’s body reaching to place something on him. Everything Draco was getting from the creature screamed danger, that this was bad, that it couldn’t be allowed to happen, a feeling that was replaced with rage, greater than anything Draco had ever felt, as his mom opened her hand and let the feather fall. He watched the creature cast a spell on his mother and watched her fall over unconscious.

 

“She wasn’t trying to hurt me! She’s my mother! She was trying to protect me, she was just trying to protect me from you. She didn’t understand. Please, let her go.” Draco begged, tears creeping back into his eyes and his voice.

 

The world shifted again, and again, flicking incredibly fast, showing what Draco could barely make out was, him, over and over and over again. And above all, there was one feeling, one emotion, overpowering every other thought. PROTECT.

 

“She was trying to protect me. Please.” Draco said, dropping to his knees, hand slipping out of the creature’s and despair entering his voice as he stared blankly at his mother's still body, realizing that this creature was the only one capable of helping his mother, and that he was unwilling to help.

 

He didn’t fight this time as the wings wrapped around him, not having the will to do so. An emotion flooded him again, but this one was odd. It was almost apologetic, but not quite. The wings withdrew, and the lights flared back on. He moved back startled as his mother groaned and sat up.

 

**POV Change**

 

Narcissa saw eyes, glowing a green light, and filled with anger. She was jerked towards them, and into another world. She saw the creature standing next to Draco, watching… Draco, and she heard them talk. The world shifted, and she saw herself as well. Understanding entered her eyes, before the world shattered and she was laying in her bed, Draco right next to her. They grabbed each other in desperate hugs, and Narcissa saw a pair of eyes watching them from the shadows.

 

**POV Change**

 

Lucius walked solemnly up the walkway to the Manor, resigned to having to explain to Draco that it may be weeks or years before his mother would wake up. What he was not expecting was to be greeted by a smiling Draco and an awake Narcissa, standing behind their son.

 

His son was bouncing, bubbly and happy, speaking rapidly as his father walked through the door. “It’s fine he was just trying to help he didn’t understand he’s good and mom is better now!”

 

As Lucius opened his mouth to say something negative, he locked eyes with his wife, and almost reeled as he felt her slam the full force of her mental might against his unprepared shields. He dropped his shields as fast as he could, letting her inside to say her piece.

 

‘Smile and nod Lucius. He cares not for either of us. I’m only here right now because my incapacitation made Draco sad. Do nothing to anger him.”

 

Lucius smiled and nodded, though the smile did not reach his eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  A/N: So yeah. A few things. They’re not super abusive to Dobby, simply because that’s not compatible with the characters as I’ve decided to use them. Also, Lucius is still a jerk and bit of a racist, but he does love his family more than anything else. Soooo. Yeah. Toodles.


	5. An Assortment Of Times In An Assortment Of Places

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I own nothing. Also this is another time skip. Something like August 15th.

 

Draco sat on the grass in a clearing in the forest, looking up at the night sky. There was no moon, so his surroundings were lit by starlight and magic, softly glowing orbs bouncing around the clearing. Next to him sat a winged figure, its glowing green eyes fixed unblinkingly on Draco as the young blonde recounted his day. Occasionally one of the creature’s clawed hands would reach out to touch Draco’s, who would pause in his tale, before continuing to explain why he wasn’t allowed to do anything to the red boy, or other such human interactions. The creature spoke only one word the entire time, when he stood up and extended his hand to Draco, which Draco took, standing up as well. And the word was “Wake.”

 

**A Tiny Bit Later**

 

Lucius watched his son run down the stairs, his fond smile turning into a bitter one when he saw the abnormal shape of his son’s shadow. He could even sort of see the mark now, if he looked hard enough. He didn’t know what it was yet, but it was present on several places on Draco’s body. His back, over his heart, the back of his wand hand. He had tried to fortify the house against the unwanted intruder, lining the entrances with iron and salt, but none of his efforts worked. Narcissa admonished him for his efforts, oddly insistent that the creature was fine, and that he leave it alone. He was sure she’d found something she wasn’t sharing. After all, he didn’t normally find her burning books from the Black library after she’d read them.

 

Lucius rose from the table and went over to Draco, giving him a hug before he set off to work. Lucius didn’t miss how the entire time he was in contact with Draco, his inhuman shadow appeared poised, coiled up and ready to spring.

 

**Somewhere Else Entirely**

 

Albus Dumbledore was 111 years old, and in his long life, he’d seen all manner of things, both magical and mystifying. And yet, despite being one of the most powerful and knowledgeable wizards the world over, he found himself utterly mystified with what he was experiencing.

 

He’d known when he started this process, carving the summoning ritual into the stone floor of an abandoned classroom, that this may be dangerous, and indeed the last dangerous thing he did. He’d accepted this however (one does not get to be where Albus was today without taking risks), and continued anyway, secure in the knowledge that this time, if he screwed up, it would harm nobody but himself. He had expected some surprises from the being in the circle, but nothing of this magnitude. As soon as he finished his chant, he was set afloat, the world becoming immaterial, and almost inconsequential. It was only when his drifting mind connected the feeling to the Imperius curse that he managed to wrench himself out of the fugue he was in. Wrenching his grip on reality back from whichever entity was currently holding it, he focused his considerable mental power on returning to the real world, only to find the path blocked completely. This was a phenomenon Dumbledore hadn’t encountered before (a rare occurrence at this time in his life). Not knowing what else to do, Dumbledore turned his mind inward, only to startle a short time later, when he felt another mind touch his own.

 

Letting his mind connect with the foreign one, Dumbledore was nearly overwhelmed by the sense of age, of eternity that was brought with it. Inside the mind of Albus Dumbledore, a voice, crackling with the power of eons spoke, ‘Greeting Albus Dumbledore. I see we have not spoken in quite a long time.’

 

In a Hogwarts classroom unused for years, a smile suddenly graced the face of an unconscious elderly man, who did not move for some time.

 

**Several Weeks Ago**

 

In a dark room, lit only by wandlight, a man sat looking at photos from years past. He looked away, and the hint of a tear could be seen glistening on his cheek, before his wand flared again and the pictures were set aflame. The man sat there watching the pictures burn, until they were nothing more than ashes.

 

Then the man stood, turned, and walked away, leaving the room with words that were no more than a whisper, “I’m sorry Lily. I truly am.”

 

**Present Day, 10 Minutes To Midnight**

 

In a dark room, a blonde boy slept peacefully. Standing next to the bed stood an inhuman creature, green eyes watching the boy, and moving not even a single muscle. Suddenly, above the boy, a flame flared into existence, and a feather began its descent. The creature blinked once, the first sign of movement it had shown in hours, right as the sleeping boy began to stir, twisting and turning in his sleep. The green eyes shifted, taking in the feather, and then a clawed hand snatched it out of its descent. The feather flared to life once more, burning into the hand of the creature. Showing little reaction to the flame, the creature’s other hand moved, closing completely over the feather, pausing briefly, then both hands moved back to rest at the creature’s side, feather nowhere to be seen. The green eyes returned to watch the boy, and both the creature and the boy stilled, neither moving again until dawn split through the night sky.

 

**Elsewhere, At Some Time, At Night**

 

A bird flew, wings buffeted by wind and rain. Angry clouds blocked out the moon and stars, the only source of light coming from occasional lightning, flashing out of the clouds. The bird flew with a purpose, out above the wild ocean. Where it flew, one would be hard pressed to figure out, as there was nothing around but ocean, and the bird flew away from the only land. The bird flew on regardless, and it appeared its efforts would be rewarded, as land appeared to emerge from the storm. On a small craggy outcropping from the sea, a great black monolithic building rose, touching the storming sky. As the bird flew closer, howling could be heard, and black shapes flew through the sky. The bird approached the building flying close, until it swooped closer, squeezing through a window, and came to rest on the floor next to a still figure. Roused to movement by this sudden intruder, the figure shifted and seemed to stretch oddly, a scruffy human man standing up from too small a pile.

 

The man looked around warily, relaxing only slightly when he saw the bird, pausing before his face split into a haggard grin; “Why hello cousin,” the man got out, in a voice splitting and cracking, raspy from disuse, “I never expected to see you here.”

 

**June 5th, 12:01 AM, The Forbidden Forest**

 

In the centaur lands, far away from the rest of the herd, a lone centaur stood looking warily up at the sky. It appeared that he saw something, as he was muttering and shaking his head, but to most other observers, the stars would give up none of their mysteries.

 

Breaking into a full gallop, the centaur took off into the woods, concernedly muttering to himself, “Can’t possibly be… cast them out… sealed away!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  A/N: This chapter is shorter then I wanted it to be, as there was a whole other part I wanted to add here. I decided however, that since I wrote this chapter in a different style then the rest of them, and different from how I plan to write the next section, to end it here and have the next bit in the next chapter. Also, since I mentioned “the red boy” I figured I may as well say this now. I really don’t like Ron. I’m okay with other people liking Ron, but for me, he was always the character with a bit in every book where he’s terrible, and then everybody forgives him and is really happy because he’s less terrible. So Ron probably won’t be very likable in this story. I’m not gonna call it bashing yet, cuz I haven’t written it yet and so it’s subject to change, but I just wanted to say something now. Anyway, Toodles!


	6. An Alley Expedition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So yeah. I don’t own anything, and it’s August 16th now.

 

Lucius was a whirl of activity, casting spells, trying to find a variety of items, and at the same time trying to focus on talking to Draco. “Draco, look at me, pay attention this is important. I have a meeting… here this one goes around your neck, the activation phrase is ‘Quartz,’ but anyway I have a meeting at Gringotts today, and your mother is busy… no Draco not that one, you want the jade bracelet, here take this ring, and you can’t come to the meeting, but I don’t want you in the house alone, so you’re going to hang out in Diagon Alley. Do you have your wands? Both of them? Good, now you’re getting older, and more capable, but I still want you to be very careful. You are to stay in Diagon. You can go into the stores, but no Knockturn Alley, and for Merlin’s sake no Muggle London. Understood? Good. I’ll meet up with you at the Leaky Cauldron at one.” And with those final words, Lucius stepped into the floo, and Draco followed behind.

 

**At The Same Time**

 

A tall blonde man was moving quickly, putting a variety of spells and items onto a smaller blonde boy, who resembled the man greatly. A creature watched these events take place, unseen by either party. The creature followed the man as he placed numerous intricate shiny baubles and other exquisite items all over the boy. For each item the man placed, the creature would reach out and pull either a strand or ball of colored light from the object, sniffing it out in his hand before moving onto the next one. As the two approached the fire, the creature reached out to the empty air and pulled, his efforts rewarded with a massive tangled net of multicolored light.  This got the same treatment as the others, right before the creature followed the younger male into the fire, and both of them disappeared.

 

**Elsewhere**

 

Amelia Bones was sitting down to have a late and leisurely breakfast before heading into the Ministry. It was her day off, but she still liked to check in on her Department, just to make sure everything was running smoothly. She looked over at a rapping from the window, surprised to find an elegant snowy owl outside, holding a letter in its beak. Raising her eyebrow, she went over to open the window. She wasn’t expecting any mail. Giving the owl some bacon before it flew off, she closed the window behind it before turning around to consider the letter. Casting several detection charms on the letter, and finding nothing (one can never be too careful after all) she sat down and started reading the letter as she ate. Three lines in, Amelia set down her fork. 10 lines in, she got up and started getting ready to leave the house, letter hovering in front of her as she prepared. Once she was finished, she set the letter alight with a whispered _incendio,_ and confirming that it was destroyed to her satisfaction, she disapparated with a quiet pop.

 

**Diagon Alley**

 

Draco was bored. It had been only an hour since his father had dropped him off in Diagon Alley, and he was already bored out of his mind. He went to Diagon Alley all the time, and he’d already seen all the shops. He wanted to do something new, something fun! But Father said he wasn’t allowed to leave Diagon Alley. But Father had also said that he wouldn’t be meeting Draco until 1 o’clock, which was _hours_ from now. He’d been to Knockturn Alley before, so it couldn’t be that dangerous. He also had all the protective jewelry father had given him, not to mention the charms he’d cast. Besides, none of that mattered anyway, because who would dare attack a Malfoy? Satisfied with his decision, Draco started towards Knockturn Alley, excited to explore.

 

**POV Switch**

 

A younger blonde girl was walking around Diagon Alley, looking around dreamily, holding the hand of a man who looked like her father. She possessed quite a variety of odd jewelry, all of which she believed to have some mystical effect. As she looked around, she saw creatures, glowing and floating through the air, magical creatures existing in all manner of shapes and forms. She was pulled out of her dreamy state as the man pulled at her hand.

 

Mild concern in his voice, the man pointed at a young boy who was currently walking in the direction of Knockturn Alley, “Luna dearest, I think that boy is going into Knockturn Alley alone. Isn’t that quite dangerous?”

 

Looking where her father was pointing, Luna gave a dreamy smile and a laugh, “Oh daddy, don’t worry. He’ll never be truly alone. Mommy told me about them, but I’ve never seen one before!”

 

Turning away, staring back into space, Luna started humming to herself. Though she had no way of knowing it, the discordant tune was a war song from an empire which would not form for millennia.

 

**POV Switch**

 

Walking down Knockturn Alley, Draco was full of excitement. He’d never been allowed to explore here before, and all the shops were way cooler than the ones in Diagon. They had cool stuff like shrunken heads, and dark artifacts, like the ones his father had in his study. He wasn’t allowed to touch those, but these ones were fine, because if he broke them by accident, father wouldn’t get mad. Reaching out to look at a beautiful opal necklace (his mother loved jewelry like that) he didn’t notice the warning tags, or the look of alarm on the shopkeeper’s face.

 

**POV Switch**

 

As the blonde boy… as Draco wandered through the crowds of people, the creature’s green eyes were vigilantly watching everything around him. When Draco went towards the place with the darker people, the creature followed eagerly in his wake. Still just as vigilant, the creature noticed the dirty         rotting-toothed man pointing his magic stick at Draco. The creature ensured Draco would never notice, and that he would also never notice how the ivy on the wall behind the man had reached forward, hungrily grabbing him, digging into the man’s arms, and growing even faster as it harvested the man’s life forces. The creature continued watching as Draco explore the place, and as Draco’s hand reached towards the opalescent object, so too did the creature’s, moving faster than Draco, pulling a spiked and angry orb of pulsing red light out of it, snuffing it out, before turning to regard the fast approaching man.

 

**POV Switch**

 

“Mister Malfoy, you really shouldn’t be touching that, it’s…” the shopkeeper voice trailed off at the end, looking Draco up and down with a confused look on his face.

 

Pouting slightly, Draco put the necklace back and left the shop, annoyed that the shopkeeper wouldn’t even let him touch a lame old necklace. As he exited the store, he saw a building he recognized from his few visits to this Alley. It was _Tooth & Claw, _which his father said was a hive of disgusting filth, and his mother said was merely a place for those of slightly lower class to hang out in. Draco had asked Uncle Severus which one of those it was, and was told that it was merely a place where creatures congregated. Draco didn’t get to talk to creatures much, because his father didn’t like them. He went towards the establishment, interested in the idea of meeting some creatures, and seeing what they were like. Maybe he’d even meet somebody like his dream friend!

 

**POV Switch**

 

Aloz was sitting in _Tooth & Claw, _ having a glass of artificial blood, when he smelled something unusual. Turning around, he saw that his nose was correct; a human had, in fact, entered the bar. When he looked closer at the human though, his fangs started to extend, and sniffing again, he let out a growl. This was not just any human. This one smelt of Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy, who has pushed through legislation designed to nail creatures, and to take away rights his kind had held for centuries. Well, if Malfoy thought his kind monsters, then maybe he had earned a lesson about what monsters were truly like. As he slinked into the shadows, he noticed some of the lighter creatures getting up and leaving. No doubt realizing things were about to get ugly, and not wanting to be involved. Cowards.

 

**POV Switch**

 

Draco was glad he’d come in here. A woman had come over and started talking to him, leading him over to a table in the corner, near the back door.

 

“Why are you here child? This is not normally a place for humans.” The women asked looking around at the other patrons while she spoke.

 

Draco fidgeted in his seat, smiling widely as he responded, “Father never normally lets me talk to creatures! But he’s not here right now, so I can do whatever I want. You seem really nice!

 

“I am… friendlier than most. It may not be wise for you to stay child, not all creatures are as accepting of humans as I am.” The women responded, glancing at certain sections of the room as she said this.

 

**POV Switch**

 

As Draco walked into the building, full of creatures, the inhuman figure behind him followed, unfurling its large wings to their fullest extent, and his claws extending, now several inches long and razor sharp. As the female approached him, he glanced quickly her way before ignoring her, keeping watch on the other patrons instead. The green eyes watched as a half-dead one got up from the bar and started slinking around the edge of the room towards Draco. Baring his fangs, the creature faded into the shadows behind Draco.

 

**POV Switch**

 

Aloz moved slowly towards the Malfoy boy, looking at the creature talking with him. He had to force himself not to snarl. At least the Siren had the guts to interfere, but how dare she try and protect a Malfoy. Close enough now, Aloz coiled up and jumped, hands outstretched to grab the boy. His aerial movement stopped suddenly, as a viciously clawed hand caught him by the throat. Out of the shadows a figure emerged attached to the hand, and Aloz felt his eyes widen as he began to struggle. Realizing he was not going to be able to escape through strength alone, he dissolved into a thick mist, drifting as fast as he could out the window before reforming and breaking into a sprint. Even though many of the other creatures had probably witnessed that display, he was likely one of the few old enough to recognize the creature for what it was. He had to warn the Elders!

 

**A Short Time Later**

 

Having witnessed the unusual creature overpower Aloz, none of the other patrons were willing to start anything. Thus Draco, under the watchful eye of two different creatures, was unhassled until he left the establishment, walking back to Diagon Alley. He managed to make it back to meet with his father in time, and his father didn’t realize Draco had disobeyed him. His father took Draco to lunch, and then they went back to the manor for Draco’s tutoring session with Severus.

 

**That Evening**

 

Severus sat at his table in his home on Spinner’s End, drinking from a large glass of fire whiskey. He’d just returned from Knockturn Alley, and it had been a very informative trip. Having gotten Draco to promise not to keep secrets from him years ago, Severus had been regaled with the tale of his adventure into Knockturn Alley. Less naive then Draco, Severus knew that it would have taken some interference for him to traipse through Knockturn Alley with no issues, especially since Severus, who had spent much effort to develop a refined magical sight, could see that what Draco called protective jewelry contained no magic whatsoever. And thus Severus’ trip to Knockturn Alley to figure out what had happened. He found more than he expected however. An extremely dark necklace uncursed, the creature showing itself and stopping a vampire, and a known child snatcher going missing. Taking another long drink, Severus picked up a quill and parchment, and started writing a letter to Narcissa.

 

**That Night**

 

Dumbledore looked up from his desk when he heard Fawkes give a quiet cry. Standing on the windowsill was a snowy owl, holding a letter in its mouth. Dumbledore walked over and took the letter, thanking the bird, before walking over to his desk and opening it. With each line Dumbledore read, he seemed to visibly age even more.

 

Rising solemnly from his desk, he slowly over to one of the walls and placed his hand upon it, whispering a few words: “An old man’s guilt.” As he finished speaking, the wall folded outward, revealing a dark corridor leading to a room, both of which should be impossible given the architecture of Hogwarts.

 

Walking down the revealed corridor, Dumbledore came to the room at the end. All over the walls were portraits, and beneath each portrait, a shelf. Taking out his wand, he pointed it at one of the portraits, a flash of anger in his eyes. With a wave the portrait was gone, replaced by another. Walking over, he placed the letter he was holding onto the shelf. If an observer were to watch closely as he walked away, they would have seen tears in his normally sparkling eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  A/N: Well that’s that one finished. That was actually longer than I expected and I’m quite pleased about that. Please do leave any feedback you have in the comments. Toodles!


	7. A Mysterious Figure And An Unsuccessful Grounding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I own nothing. I think that’s it. Enjoy.

 

In the dark night, underneath the light of the full moon, a figure hiked through the mountains. The figure left prints in the snow as they walked, seemingly fine, despite wearing only a set of robes. Travelling back down the path of footprints in the otherwise pristine landscape, one would see them extending for miles, before coming suddenly to a stop. Stopping suddenly, the person pulled a thin wooden object from within the robes, shaking it in front of them until light flowed out, forming letters and numbers. It displayed the current date and time, August 21st, 3:17 AM, and a second set of characters, which formed nothing but an incoherent mess. Shaking its head, the figure placed the wooden object back within the robes before carrying on.

 

**At Malfoy Manor**

 

Draco was less than pleased with the current situation. His father had found out about Draco’s excursion into Knockturn Alley last week, and was furious with him. As a result he was grounded, and he wasn’t allowed out of his wing of the house, EVEN FOR BREAKFAST! He was okay with that at first, after all, he was only grounded for a week. However, that was before he found out that the common library was warded against him, and all the books other than his school texts had been removed from his room, and he’d already read all of those. So now he was lying on his bed, bored out of his mind, with nothing to do.

 

**Elsewhere, In A Mountain Range**

 

In the midst of a remote mountain range, at the bottom of a sheer cliff hundreds of feet in height stood somebody focusing intently on their task. What that task was would not be immediately obvious, but the methodical way they went about waving their wand before tapping it on the cliff-face made it clear that whatever they were doing, they were doing with a purpose. Eventually, their efforts were rewarded, a section of the cliff shimmering and disappearing under their wand, revealing a thin crevice that appeared to lead deep into the mountain. They let out a laugh, muffled by the elaborate metal mask they wore, as they stepped towards the crack in the cliff-face.

 

**Back At Malfoy Manor**

 

By day three of his imprisonment, Draco had finished rereading all of his school textbooks. Unbearably bored once again, Draco made the decision that, once again, he was going to disobey his father, and go find something to do elsewhere in the Manor. He quickly found that his father had prepared for that, for as soon as Draco left the wing, he was grabbed by a waiting house elf, and deposited back in his room with a pop. He tried again twice more before giving up, resigning himself to sitting in his room for at least the next day. As the moon rose high in the sky however, Draco noticed a pair of green eyes peering at him from the shadows.

 

“There you are! I haven’t seen you since you woke mother up! Well except in my dreams, but they don’t count because they’re not real. What are you doing here? I don’t have anything to tell you about, I’m grounded, so I can’t do anything interesting.” Draco rattled off, slowly descending in both excitement and tone as he approached the creature.

 

The creature stepped forward slowly out of the shadows, holding his hand out towards Draco. Familiar with this action by now, Draco eagerly took the offered hand, watching as scenes of him groaning sadly, sitting unhappily in his room, and kicking something in a fit of rage after the house elf popped him back to his room for the third time.

 

As Draco returned to the present he looked up at the creature in front of him. The creature cocked his horned head slightly to the side, and Draco was briefly adrift in a sense of questioning. “I can’t leave my wing, even though I’m bored. Father grounded me for going into Knockturn Alley. I just have to sit here and deal with it, otherwise I’ll get in more trouble. Anyway, it’s not like I could even leave. The house elves would get me.”

 

The creature gently but quickly pulled his hand away from Draco, and as he did, Draco caught the briefest glimpse of his father’s face, and a fleeting feeling of intense displeasure. He was distracted from that, though, when the creature stepped forward once again, far enough into the light that Draco could see him fully.  

 

Draco stepped back slightly as the creature unfurled his wings to what appeared to be their full extent, before looking Draco directly in the eyes, and saying in a melodic but questioning voice, “Fly?”

 

Draco gasped, before nodding and laughing with joy, stepping eagerly towards the creature. As he did, he failed to notice the faint smile that cracked the creature’s normally placid face.

 

**In A Mountain Range Somewhere**

 

In the darkness of a cave, somebody shuffled forward slowly. The crevice they were traversing was short, and barely wide enough for a person, forcing them to squeeze through in many places, often painfully. Squeezing through a particularly small gap, they were suddenly hit with a blindingly bright light, much brighter than anything they had seen since coming to these mountains. They stood on a ledge, overlooking an impossibly lush forest, flourishing deep in the heart of the frigid mountains. As they began their descent towards it, bird song sounded in their ears.

 

**The Master Bedroom Of Malfoy Manor**

 

Lucius Malfoy woke with a start, looking over at the screaming and whirring device on his bedside table, one of many designed to alert him that one of the Manor’s wards had been set off. As he looked over and saw which one it was, his heart sank, and he jumped out of bed, rousing the house elves as he moved. The device that was active was the one that let him know if Draco crossed over the property line at an odd time, like now, in the middle of the night. Lucius sprinted to his study, the room where he kept all of his tracking devices, attuned to Draco in case something unthinkable happened.

 

**Flying Through The Night Sky**

 

Draco smiled widely, laughing out of pure joy as he clung to the arms of his creature friend. They were soaring over a beautiful forest, bathed in the soft glow of the moon. Draco shifted in the creature’s arms as their movement slowed, coming to a stop in a clearing among the trees, very similar to the one Draco had seen time and time again in his dreams. Sitting down across from one another, Draco continued with the nightly ritual of telling his friend about his day.

 

**Malfoy Manor**

 

Finding his tracking charms unable to locate Draco, Lucius was panicking. He’d managed to bring himself down to where he was now, when he realized that nobody other than Draco had crossed the wards, meaning he must have gone willingly, and regardless of where he went, at least he’d have that abomination with him. Now Lucius was stuck feverishly checking the wards and the tracking devices, hoping one of them would change, and give him something. He stopped his feverish actions and let out a deep breath when the wards told him Draco was back on the property, restoring everything to their normal conditions before slowly making the short journey to Draco’s room. When he got there, he was met with black wings, shielding the bed from his sight. As he watched, they slowly shifted, giving Lucius a brief glimpse of his son, peacefully sleeping, before returning to their original position shielding Draco from everything around him.

 

**In A Forest, In An Unknowable Location**

 

A black-robed figure emerged from a forest full of vibrant life, walking towards a small hillock in the middle of a tranquil field. The mysterious person approached the hillock cautiously, circling around to the other side, and stopping, looking at an object embedded within. It was a mirror-like object, composed entirely of a single piece of highly reflective black material. Reaching out as if to touch it, they stopped just short of actually doing so, instead reaching into their robes, and pulling out a small wire cage. Inside the cage was a small mouse, which the figure placed near the object, prodding it, forcing it to run headlong into the mirror, where it slipped inside, leaving only a ripple against the darkness. Just as the mouse did so, a small winged creature flew out of the mirror, directly at the figure’s face. It was struck with a green light, and it fell to the ground, quickly advancing through the stages of decay, until where it fell there was nothing but some mushrooms, growing in the now fertile ground. The figure looked pensively at the ground, before shaking its head, and disappearing with a pop, the last visible feature the metallic skull mask which obscured their face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  A/N: This chapter took me longer then I would have liked and wasn’t necessarily what I wanted it to be. The next chapter should either be up later tonight, or tomorrow afternoon sometime. Anyway, thanks for reading, please comment, Toodles!


	8. A New Friend At Hogwarts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for having this chapter up later then I said I would, I was busy. I don’t own anything, please enjoy.

 

Deep within the bowels of the Ministry, a group of people who didn’t exist labored away on projects which weren’t happening. Occasionally, one of them would look up from whatever they were working on to observe one of several magical gadgets that were placed sporadically around the room, before going back to what they were working on. Today however, was different, for today, most of them were clustered around a specific magical object, one which normally sat at the edges of the room, unwatched and ignored. It would be hard to say what they were looking at, as the object, a rather ornate crystal mirror, looked exactly the same as it did on any other day. Still, they looked at it all the same, muttering and whispering, questioning why this happened, and why it had happened now. What they were referring to, most likely only they know, but whatever it was, it is clear they thought it very important.

 

**Diagon Alley**

 

Lucius looked down at his son as they walked slowly towards Gringotts. He was filled with both excitement and trepidation as he thought about tomorrow, when he would say goodbye to Draco and send him off to Hogwarts, not to see him again until the winter holidays. Today they were going to Gringotts to pick up a thing or two from the Malfoy vaults, some special heirlooms Lucius wanted Draco to have with him when he went to Hogwarts. Looking back down at the pride and joy of his life, he silently hoped that they would be enough.

 

**Hogwarts, The Headmasters Office**

 

As Dumbledore looked out over the Hogwarts grounds, he too was thinking about tomorrow. His thoughts, however, were mostly filled with worry and concern. He knew what was going to be entering the grounds tomorrow, and to put it quite bluntly, it scared him. He couldn’t even tell anybody, couldn’t warn his staff, because it was imprudent to even think the name. As Dumbledore walked back to his desk, Fawkes began to sing, and Dumbledore smiled faintly, glad, as he had been numerous times in his life, for the calming influence of the magnificent creature.

 

**That Night, At Malfoy Manor**

 

The creature stood watch over Draco, it’s hands covered in grevious burns. As a light flared above the bed, the creature’s hand came up quickly snatching an object out of the air. With hardly a thought, the creature brought its other hand around, snuffing out the sixth Phoenix feather of the night. The creature returned to watching Draco, moving again only when another light lit the dark room.

 

**The Next Morning**

 

As Draco ate breakfast, he was practically vibrating from excitement. Today was the day he got to go to Hogwarts! He couldn’t wait, he’d heard so much about it. Draco maintained this excited mood all morning, right up until the point he had to say goodbye to his parents, and actually board the Hogwarts Express.

 

“Can’t you come with me?” Draco asked, face buried in his mother’s robes.

 

“You know the answer to that Draco dearest,” Narcissa responded as she gently pulled her son off of her, “Now go say goodbye to your father, the train is going to leave soon.”

 

Obeying his mother before boarding the train, Draco began looking for a compartment. He eventually found an empty one, and sat down, pulling out a book he’d brought with him and beginning to read. Because the book was interesting, this kept him relatively happy, at least until he was interrupted.

 

As the door to his compartment opened, Draco looked up languidly, and upon seeing a bushy haired girl he didn’t recognize, returned to his book, asking in an extremely disinterested voice, “How may I help you?”

 

“Oh, I was just wondering if you’d seen a toad, you see a boy named Neville lost his, and he seemed rather put out about it, so I offered to help, but it’s a rather big train you see so we’re having a bit of an issue about it.” The bushy haired girl rattled off, seemingly in one breath. “My names Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger, what’s yours?”

 

Marking his place and setting his book down, Draco looked back up at the girl. “I’m Draco Malfoy. As for finding the toad, a summoning charm should suffice. If you can’t do it yourself, I’m sure you could find a prefect able to help you.”

 

As Draco mentioned the summoning charm, the girl’s, Hermione’s, eyes lit up, and she pulled out her wand. “Of course! The summoning charm would be perfect. I haven’t tried it yet, because it’s not a first year spell, and I wanted to practice the first year spells first so that I could do well in classes, but I did read about it and it seems relatively simple, I should be able to pull it off,” pausing here to take a quick breath, Hermione waved her wand, intoning “ _Accio Neville’s Frog._ ”

 

After a minute, a frog flew into the compartment with a loud croak. Draco raised an eyebrow at the sight, impressed that this girl had managed to pull off the summoning charm on her first try. She was obviously rather gifted at magic. Maybe he should try and befriend her.

 

Keeping this thought mind, Draco looked at the girl, hesitating briefly before asking “Would you like to sit in here? I’m sure we could find something to talk about.”

 

Hermione's face showed surprise for a brief moment before it split into a wide smile. “I have to go give this frog back to Neville, but after that I’ll make sure to come back!”

 

Still smiling widely Hermione scurried out of the compartment, carrying the toad. Draco rolled his eyes, before picking up his book and continuing to read.

 

**Slytherin Dormitory, After The Sorting**

 

Draco looked excitedly around his new room, which already had all of his stuff in in, before grabbing what he needed, and going into the bathroom to prepare for bed. As he did so, he smiled, thinking. He was the only one out of the Slytherin boys who had their own room, something he was certain Uncle Severus was responsible for. His new, well, friend, for lack of a better word, Hermione Granger had been sorted into Ravenclaw, and had smiled widely at him before sitting down. Draco could tell already that that was going to be an… interesting friendship. Exiting the bathroom, Draco stopped, and looked questioningly at his bed. Sitting on it was a letter, which had most certainly not been there when he had first entered the room. Picking it up he began to read.

 

_Mister Malfoy,_

 

_Welcome to Hogwarts, I do hope you are enjoying it so far. I would like to ask you to come talk with me in my office at your convenience. You are by no means in trouble, I would just like to have a chat. The password is “Sherbert Lemon,” and if you’re lost, ask any of the teachers, and they should assist you. Do enjoy yourself._

 

_Headmaster Dumbledore_

 

Putting the letter aside, Draco decided that he would deal with this odd request in the morning. Decision made, he laid down, and quickly fell asleep.

 

**At The Same Time**

 

The creature followed Draco as he entered the dungeons. After a brief talk with the potion man, Draco proceeded on to his bedroom. As Draco entered the room, the bright green eyes watching him darkened, and the creature bared his teeth, claws lengthening slightly. In the doorway in front of the creature was a shining barrier, a resplendent rainbow of colors. As the creature reached towards it, a bolt of energy spiked out, hitting the creature’s outstretched hand. Snarling as he pulled his hand back, the creature paused, before before thrusting both of his hands towards the barrier, sending out two bolts of energy, blacker than the night sky, which upon hitting the barrier, froze, and then dissolved, taking the barrier with them. Claws still lengthened, the creature stepped through the doorway, before turning and beginning to weave his own barrier, a barrier full of dark reds, of black, of vibrant and angry purples.

 

**Midnight, The Headmasters Office**

 

Dumbledore looked up as the door to his office opened, surprised at the timing, but prepared to have his chat with Mister Malfoy now either way. What he saw as the door opened had him on his feet in an instant, wand drawn, pointing at the creature walking through the door, who held an unconscious Draco Malfoy in its arms. Dumbledore kept his wand leveled at the creature as it growled at him, before setting Draco down on a chair.

 

As the creature outstretched its hand, Dumbledore took it, walking into the offered vision warily, only half knowing what to expect. What he saw was odd. As he watched, Phoenix feather after Phoenix feather fell, only to be caught before it could reach Draco’s bed. He saw the creature burning time and time again, before returning to watch vigilantly over the young Malfoy’s respite. He also saw the wards he had placed over Draco’s room, and watched with mild surprise as they crumbled, and with great trepidation as the creature built new ones in their place. The scene shifted back to Draco, as he was now, sleeping in the Headmaster’s office.

 

A voice growled through Dumbledore’s head, echoing a statement Dumbledore knew had been said before, “Mine.”

 

The scene shifted once again, and Dumbledore was genuinely surprised this time, not knowing what to expect, as Knockturn Alley bustled around him. A suspicion dawned as he watched a seedy looking man point a wand at Draco, only to be attacked and brutally consumed by the plant life behind him.

 

Drifting back into the real world, Dumbledore looked up at the inhuman face of the creature before him, as it bared its fangs, and growled out a final message, “Protect.” As it picked up a still sleeping Draco and left the office.

 

Watching them go, Dumbledore sighed wearily, before looking at Fawkes, and in a voice laced with just a touch of helplessness, questioned, “What am I supposed to do Fawkes? It appears that he cares, but that does not change the monster that lies beneath. We cannot allow his kind to return. We can’t!”

 

Fawkes’ only response was a quiet song, a song which failed to completely soothe the worry Dumbledore was feeling.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well that’s another chapter done. Before I go, I have one thing to address, which is Hermione’s sorting. I am one of the people who firmly believes that, regardless of the bravery Hermione shows, she should have been sorted into Ravenclaw, however, I think that regardless, she would normally end up in Gryffindor, due to her desire to be in the best house, and to make friends. That is why, having made what to her is a great friend in the form of Draco, I think she would have been comfortable enough with herself to end up in Ravenclaw. Soooooo, yeah. Toodles!


	9. A Day At School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: It’s been a couple of days on this one, and sadly I can’t say it’s because it’s any longer than normal. I was just busy. Regardless though, here’s the next chapter. I own nothing, and I hope you enjoy reading.

 

Draco yawned as he got out of bed. He had to wake up much earlier then normal to make it to breakfast before his first class, which, looking at his schedule as he got ready, was Double Potions with the Gryffindors. Ew. At least Uncle Severus was teaching the class.

 

Breakfast was uneventful, though it was vastly different from the small and intimate family meals he was used to. After eating, he was on his way to Potions. While waiting outside of the classroom, he was confronted by his least favorite Gryffindor (granted, he was one of the only Gryffindors Draco knew, but he was Draco’s least favorite all the same) Ronald Weasley.

 

“Watcha doing Malfoy? I bet you cried yourself to sleep last night because you missed your Mommy!” Weasley spat out, hostility evident in every part of his demeanor.

 

Not deigning to look up from his book, Draco responded to Weasley’s juvenile remarks in kind, “Oh no, I appear to have been approached by the most useless Weasley.” Draco remarked, seemingly talking to himself, “Honestly, it’s a wonder his parents even bothered to have him. I would have thought his role could be fulfilled by a mentally handicapped house elf, and at least the house elf could help around the house.”

 

Weasley balled up his fist at that remark, his face turning red with anger. “You take that back you disgusting snake!” He spat out as he approached Draco menacingly, failing to notice how the shadows in the hallway darkened at his words, appearing to grow spikier, as if they were angry.

 

“Ten points from Gryffindor for juvenile behavior, Mister Weasley.” Drawled Severus Snape as he rounded the corner, glaring at Weasley before sweeping open the door. “Do come in and sit down before you behave in an even more imbecilic manner.”

 

Draco smiled slightly as he put his book back in his bag and entered the Potions classroom. The rest of the students arrived soon, and the class proceeded uneventfully, with the exception of Weasley making a fool of himself by not having done any of the reading. Idiot.

 

After Potions it was off to History with the Ravenclaws. He was one of the first to arrive, so he sat down off to the side, and took out the exceptionally dry textbook they had been assigned. As more students filed in, Hermione saw him and rushed over, pulling out her stuff as well. When the period started and a ghost drifted through the wall before starting to talk, Draco fought back a groan. When Binns began to go on about Goblin rebellions, a topic covered in a brief chapter halfway through the textbook, Draco had to resist slamming his head into the desk.

 

Thirty minutes into the period, Hermione looked over at Draco and hesitantly spoke, “You know, I don’t necessarily think he’s that great of a teacher.”

 

Draco just looked at her and rolled his eyes, before pulling out a copy of the wizarding history book his father had been teaching him from for years. She gave a small squeal of excitement before opening the book and beginning to read avidly.

 

After History, Draco had a free block, the first part of which he used to talk to Dumbledore. The elderly Headmaster didn’t seem to have much to say, which made it even weirder that he’d called this meeting. Oh well, not much Draco could do about it. After the brief meeting, he was off to lunch, and then it was off to Transfiguration and then Charms with the Hufflepuffs.

 

After classes and dinner were over, Draco went to the Library to meet with Hermione. He brought two of his childhood friends, Pansy Parkinson, and Theodore Nott. Since Draco had learned that Hermione was a muggleborn, they were told to behave and be polite. They both agreed to at least give her a chance before dismissing her offhand. She was a Ravenclaw after all, a house which was known for producing outstanding witches and wizards. As the Slytherin group entered the library, Hermione rushed up to them, and started whispering excitedly about her classes and the like. Draco so looked over and saw Pansy rolling her eyes, though the hint of a smile graced her face. They all followed Hermione back to her table, where she had stacks of books piled up everywhere, and with some mutters of “Ravenclaws” the group sat down and began to chat.

 

**Elsewhere, Later That Night**

 

A bird flew away from a dark and rocky island in the middle of the sea. It was constantly buffeted by harsh winds, and pelted by hail and rain, yet the look in its eyes would be described as triumphant, if that descriptor could be truly applied to a bird. It held an object clutched in its beak, a scroll of parchment, which seemed to refuse to get wet, despite the fury of the storm around it. As land started to creep from the water, the bird shifted, angling itself towards the coast.

 

**The Forbidden Forest**

 

Deep within the Forbidden Forest, in a glade unseen by any living human, the centaurs held council.

 

“What would you have us do about this threat then Firenze?” Asked a wild looking centaur, practically spitting out the words.

 

Staring unblinkingly at the centaur who had spoken, the being called Firenze responded, his voice much calmer than that which had asked the question, “I would have us do nothing. They have always been wildly varied, one of the few constants being their vindictive nature. To rush into action with no reason and no concrete plan would be to invite destruction upon the herd.”

 

“So instead you would invite destruction through inaction!” The first centaur sneered out as he reared up into the air, hooves lashing out at the empty space in front of him. “If we let this monster intrude into our lands, it will destroy us, like They have time and time again. We have fought its kind and won before, and we can do it again.”

 

“You are so intent on violence that you forget much Bane.” Firenze replied, his normally tranquil voice picking up a suddenly vicious edge. “The past is not the future, something any foal must learn if they wish to have any hope of reading the stars. We won once, emerging victorious from Their extreme hostility. But that was long ago, with the backing of many others. This is now, a new time, under fresh stars, where neither our victory nor Their hostility is assured.”

 

Bane nostrils flared in anger as his angry voice shot back across the clearing. “You are a fool if you believe they will return with peaceful intent! You will doom the herd wi-”

 

“Silence!” A deep voice boomed, cutting sharply across the glade, silencing Bane’s words, as well as the retort from Firenze.

 

Both of the arguing parties looked towards the centaur that had spoken, a colossal figure, towering over all the other centaurs in the clearing. Long white braids trailed down his back, and in his hands he held a simple staff.

 

Having secured the attention of the rest of the centaurs, the figure stepped forward, into the center of the circle. “You are bickering like foals. These actions do not become a centaur Elder, even those as young as you. Neither of you are old enough to remember when They last walked this earth. However, neither of you are entirely wrong. Bane, it would be foolish to assume that They will be the same now that They have returned. As a military leader, you should know that unplanned assaults lead to great disaster. And Firenze, while it is important to remember that the past is not the future, you must also know that the future is shaped by the past. To throw away all that we know in favor of learning anew would be the greatest of follies. You may now leave the circle, and return to your duties elsewhere.”

 

As Bane and Firenze left the circle, heads bowed in shame, they were watched by the five remaining centaurs. Once they had left, a smaller centaur looked at the largest centaur in the circle.

 

“Do you not think that was a bit harsh Magorian? They are young, and foolish. We cannot expect them to be perfect.” The small centaur questioned.

 

“They are centaur Elders.” Responded the deep voice of Magorian. “They are no longer considered young, and no longer permitted to be foolish. They hold the responsibility for the rest of the centaur herd in their hands.”

 

Another centaur, this one bowed and twisted from age, raised his crackling voice, “Foolish or not, the subject they brought up must be addressed. What are we to do? It is dangerous, and now it is on our lands. We cannot ignore it, but if we were to fight it, even if we were to win, our herd would be decimated beyond all hope of recovery.”

 

The face of Magorian looked ponderous as he solemnly responded. “For now we shall do nothing. We shall wait, and we shall watch. If it is as many of us fear, we shall do what we must, regardless of the cost.”

 

With those grim words, the circle dissolved, the remaining Elders walking back towards the camp. Only Magorian stayed behind, looking up at the stars, his eyes shifting across the night sky, watching something which only they could see.

 

**Back At Hogwarts, In The Slytherin Dorms**

 

Lying on his bed, Draco slept peacefully while a silent figure stood above him. Tonight, however, the watching creature was much more active than usual, as his clawed hands traced patterns on Draco’s sleeping form. As they moved, they left behind lines of shadowy energy, which stayed momentarily suspended in the air, before sinking down into Draco’s skin. After a while, the creature stopped its work, apparently satisfied with what it had done. Wings extending to cover Draco, he fell still, not moving again for the rest of the night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  A/N: So the only thing I think needs to be addressed for this chapter is Draco’s easy acceptance of Hermione, despite the fact that she’s a muggleborn. I could have addressed it last chapter, but I didn’t, so I’m doing it here. I’ve said it before, and I’ll doubtless say it again. I am trying to stay as true as I can to the wonderful characters JK Rowling has given us as I see them, while still being able to make certain story things work. As far as I see it, Lucius Malfoy, despite being racist, most likely would not have ruthlessly indoctrinated his son into his beliefs. Lucius’ dislike or even hatred for muggleborns and creatures would have been a thing Draco was aware of, as it would have been a simple fact of life, but likely not something Lucius would have forced upon his son. Blah blah blah, some of you will disagree with this, but if you think about it, Lucius never forced Draco to join the death eaters. Draco did it himself because Voldemort was threatening him and his family. As for Narcissa, I’m not writing her as a racist, simply because I don’t think she was that way in the stories. After all, she never joined the death eaters, and never did anything to demonstrate that she had the exact same views as her husband. Rather, I view Narcissa as more of a classist, who felt that she and her family were superior not due to their magical roots, or lack of creature blood, but rather because they were simply a more refined people, and a higher class. I think this part of Draco’s parentage, would, and definitely did rub off on him, but I also think that he could have overcome this for the sake of making friends with an intelligent and wonderful person. I think most of the casual racism Draco displays over the course of the series was mainly an incidental part of his childhood, and could have easily been overcome by making friends with a gifted muggleborn, especially this early in his life. Maybe just don’t bring her home to meet your parents for a while, ok Draco? Anyway, that’s my rant. Toodles!


	10. An Unexpected Sight, And A Tense Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey everyone, this is the next chapter. I don’t own anything. Enjoy!

 

Lucius glared at the man across the table, not even attempting to hide his distaste. Narcissa had left the manor this morning, setting off on an extended trip looking for information about the creature that had attached itself to Draco. Therefore it had fallen to him to continue looking for information locally, leading to this unfortunate meeting with an abominable man. Across the table from Lucius sat Fenrir Greyback, one of the worst examples of creatures. While Lucius would have very much liked to put Greyback down like the animal he was, at present he was too useful to dispose of.

 

Wishing for this meeting to be done as fast as possible, Lucius skipped all pretense of subtlety, and simply reached into his robes to pull out a large bag of Galleons; which he placed on the table before opening his mouth to speak. “I need you to find somebody for me. I’m willing to pay quite handsomely in return for speed and discretion.”

 

Greyback looked at the pouch and then back at Lucius giving an extremely toothy smile which caused Lucius to grimace. He had better make sure Greyback understood not to harm the individual in question. One can never be too careful when it comes to animals and fools after all.

 

**Hogwarts, In The Great Hall**

 

Dumbledore looked out over his students as he ate his lunch. The returning children had settled back into the normal routine very quickly, and the new students had began to acclimate already, despite being at Hogwarts for only two days. As he looked around the hall, the bushy haired head of the young Miss Granger caught his eye. If he was not mistaken, she was engaged in her usual activity of reading, with eating lunch merely being an afterthought. He had been surprised and extremely delighted to hear from Miss Pince that she had managed to befriend Mister Malfoy. He very much hoped that this would turn into a lifelong friendship, as such a relationship would likely make sure the next Lord Malfoy did not harbor the same prejudices as his father.

 

Speaking of Mister Malfoy, he was entering the lunch room now. Behind him, as always, was the creature, lurking in the shadows despite being completely invisible to most of the room's inhabitants. Of the people currently in the Great Hall, he and Severus were likely the only people who could see it. Looking down the staff table, a thought popped into Dumbledore’s head. Filius may be able to see it as well. After all, those with creature ancestry were far more inclined to see the truth in magic, and goblins in particular had an above average knack for magical perception. Turning back to look at the young Malfoy, Dumbledore saw something, which, without much practice in occlumency, would have left his eyes wide open and his jaw hanging with shock. Turning his head he saw Severus staring directly at Draco, so he had probably seen them as well. Draco's aura now sported three distinct marks, made of magic, and clearly visible for any of that inclination to see. This could cause trouble, as he knew that there were plenty of students who would be able to see magical marks, especially ones made to be this obvious. Vanishing what remained of his meal, Dumbledore rose from his chair, and began the walk to Hogwarts’ ward control room. Hopefully he’d be able to craft a suitable ward to prevent any of the students from realizing the significance of the marks on Mister Malfoy.

 

**The Hogwarts Dungeons, A Short Time Later**

 

Severus Snape looked down at the parchment in front of him. Drawn upon it was as close as he could get to a perfect rendering of the marks the creature placed on Draco. Severus had been able to see them, or at least blurry shapes where they were, but they had been faint enough that he could not make them out. Now that they were clear, Severus could not help but marvel. The centerpiece of the marks was rather simple, an iron crown wreathed by thorns, but Severus had used occlumency to bring up an image of the marks, and the fine detail within them was truly quite impressive. However, even with his inability to adequately capture this fine detail, the drawing he had made would be sufficient to show Lucius and Narcissa the marks that now adorned their son. Resolving to send the letter later that evening, Severus pulled a book on plants off of his shelf, and flipped to the section about thorny vines.

 

**Ottery St Catchpole**

 

Beside a river, near a sloped house shaped like a chess piece sat a young blonde haired girl. This girl was Luna Lovegood, something which she knew with certainty, because she’d been Luna Lovegood all her life. Watching the river in front of her, Luna saw glittering shapes, flitting in and out of the ripples in the water. As she looked around, she saw a sinuous creature of pink and yellow flow down from a nearby tree, and move towards her. She smiled dreamily and gave it a wave.

 

“Hello Mister Flumpner! How are you doing today?” Luna asked.

 

She didn’t know why the creatures only talked to her, but she was grateful for their companionship regardless. They’d been there all her life, the only other person who noticed them being her mother. The creature made some glooping sounds as she cocked her head to listen. Smiling even wider at what she had heard,  Luna looked back towards the river. She was so glad they were returning. They were oh so pretty. As Luna watched the river, and the creatures in it, the wind sang to her. It sang songs of death, of despair, of triumph and love, and as she sat there, Luna raised her voice to sing along.

 

**Later That Night, Somewhere In Northern Bulgaria**

 

Narcissa Malfoy looked up at the mansion in front of her. As lightning struck mere inches from her, she rolled her eyes. Somebody's sense of theatrics was massively overblown. Walking up the stairs, Narcissa let the elaborate knocker fall three times. After a brief wait, the door opened with a loud creak to  reveal a barely lit hallway, lined with intimidating armor and portraits. As she walked down the hallway, she ignored the way the shadows moved with her, walking forward, head held high, until she came to another door, this one beautifully gilded in intricate designs of gold. Reaching out, Narcissa pushed open the door, and stepped through it into an opulent throne room, done up in vibrant tones of blood red. She walked down the carpet towards the throne, crowds of people on either side. Upon the throne sat an imposing man, elegantly dressed, with black hair and a toothy grin.

 

As Narcissa came to a stop, standing before the man, he opened his mouth to speak.  “Greetings Narcissa Malfoy,” the man spoke, his elegant voice oozing boredom, and practically dripping with sarcasm. “What brings you to my humble abode?”

 

“Do not play the fool my dearest Count, that role has never worked for you.” Narcissa responded, her languid tone displaying none of the terror she was currently feeling. “I wish to speak to the Elder Council.”

 

Narrowing his eyes as he leaned forward, the Count’s next words were laced with extreme amusement. “The Malfoy name has caused much trouble for my kind both in Britain and beyond. What on earth made you think that I would grant your request, or indeed even let you walk out of here alive _Lady Malfoy_?” As he spoke his last words, the waiting crowds surged forward, the torchlight glinting off their red eyes and extended fangs, arms outstretched towards Narcissa.

 

As the crowd of vampires closed in, Narcissa’s hand swiftly plunged into her robes, withdrawing holding a glowing object. As the light surged outwards on all sides, those vampires closest to her jumped back with a snarl.

 

“You seem to have forgotten _Elder Dracula,_ ” Narcissa hissed out, back straight as she glared at the monster in front of her, “That before I was a Malfoy, I was a Black, and you’ve had much more trouble with them then Lucius could have caused you in centuries sitting on the Wizengamot.”

 

Moving forward to stand at the edge of the light, Count Dracula grinned. “Ah yes. The Blacks have hurt us time and time again. The artificial sun you hold is one of the last. We’ve managed to destroy 73 of the abominable creations.” Suddenly, with a surge of movement, Dracula stood in front of Narcissa, looking at the glowing orb that was now in his hand. “But surely you knew that these are nothing more than a nuisance to an elder like me. And yet you brought it into my presence anyway. Why is that?” He finished, turning to look at Narcissa, who could now see the bloodlust in his eyes.

 

Staring him in the eyes resolutely, Narcissa responded, steel in her voice. “I simply wished to prove I had one. The other three are still safely housed in the Black Vault. Unless I tell him not to, in one week my account manager will release them to the Department of Mysteries as well as the top artificers of our time. With their combined efforts, I’m sure they would have a commercially producible version made within a few months. And while the items themselves may only be a nuisance, I’m sure the loss of your spawn would be more than a minor inconvenience.”

 

The Count continued staring at her for almost ten minutes, before bursting into sudden laughter. “How delightful. Out of respect for your rather well thought out plan, I shall refrain from any attempts to dismantle it. Very well, I shall fulfill your request. The Council of Elders shall meet at Countess Bathory’s estate in two days time. I’m sure you can see yourself out. Do take your horrid little device with you.”

 

With that, the Count disappeared in a whirl of shadow, the dropped orb quickly snatched up by Narcissa, who exited the mansion swiftly, satisfied with how this had turned out, and, though she did not show it, intensely relieved that her gamble had paid off.

 

**Back At Hogwarts**

 

Filius Flitwick sat at his desk, atop an unusually tall chair, and looked down at the letter he had just finished. It was not a long letter, and it was not entirely the contents of it that concerned him, but rather the intended recipient. This was because Flitwick was half Goblin. He’d been born to a human mother, and thus not raised within the tradition heavy Goblin society. As such, he was an outcast among the Goblins, not necessarily by law or decree, but in the face of a vast cultural divide. Thus it was difficult for him to send this letter, as he had little idea as to how it would be received, and even less as to what the response would be. Shaking his head as if to clear himself of doubt, he hopped down from his chair. He would have to send it regardless. After all, he was first and foremost a scholar, and if information about the marks that suddenly appeared on Draco Malfoy, as well as the presence following the boy was available anywhere, it would be within the walls of Gringotts.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  A/N: Well. That’s that chapter finished. I started it last night actually and I’m not entirely ecstatic about the results. It’s difficult to look at a chapter which is almost 2000 words and realize that almost nothing was accomplished in terms of progression. I don’t know how to fix it, but I’m sure that in the future, when I finally get annoyed about enough things and go back over this fic with a fine toothed comb, there will be numerous things about this chapter I’ll end up changing. Anyway, thanks for reading, and please leave your thoughts about the fic, as well as any errors you spotted or suggestions you have in the comments below. Even the greatest writers can use some help, and I’m certainly not one of those, so I’ll take quite a lot of it. Toodles!


	11. A Confusing Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter is up way later then it should have been, and for that I apologize. I have not been feeling great for the past couple of days, and anything I wrote would have been below the level that I consider acceptable. However, I do have this chapter for you now. So enjoy. (I own nothing.)

 

Susan Bones walked leisurely through the halls of Hogwarts, heading towards the Hufflepuff dorm. As she crawled out of the barrel and into the common room, she glanced slightly at the letter she held in her hand. Entering her room, she started a music box, nodding in satisfaction as she felt the privacy ward spring up around her. Sitting down at her desk, Susan opened the letter and began to read.

 

_Dear Susan,_

 

_I just wanted to check in and see how you have found Hogwarts so far. I hope you’re enjoying yourself, and I expect you are already making friends. Try hard in all of your classes, and remember, if you need anything you just have to write me and ask. I hope you’re enjoying yourself._

 

_Lots Of Love,_

_Auntie Amelia_

 

Susan smiled, and jotted down a note to write her Auntie each week. Looking back at the letter, her eyes drifted to the bottom, looking for the Ministry of Magic watermark. Sure enough, there it was. Grimacing slightly, Susan pulled a pin out of her robes, and pricked her finger, letting a single drop of blood fall onto the watermark. As color spread outwards and the words changed, Susan once again began to read.

 

**Ottery St Catchpole, Later That Day**

 

Lucius Malfoy looked around him, lip curled in distaste. Why anyone would choose to live here he couldn’t even begin to fathom. It was a disgusting pit, surrounded on all sides by muggle filth. How utterly revolting. Still, if what Narcissa had told him was true, then the visit had to be made. Walking up the oddly shaped house, Lucius knocked on the door and stood there, waiting for a response.

 

Lucius heard a small amount of shuffling, and then the door was promptly opened by an oddly dressed man, who immediately began speaking. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you, I’m a little busy right now, I’m working on the next issue but it is always nice to meet a Quib…” The man (who Lucius assumed was Xenophilius Lovegood) trailed off here, as he looked up and saw Lucius Malfoy standing in his doorway. Frowning slightly, he continued, his voice much more serious. “I do hate to be rude, but you’re not quite welcome here Lord Malfoy.” Xenophilius began to close the door, only to find it blocked by Lucius’ cane.

 

Looking irately at Lucius, Mister Lovegood opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Lucius’ extremely bored voice. “Do believe me Mister Lovegood, when I say that I want me to be here even less than you do. So for our mutual satisfaction, the best course of action you can take is to give me what I want.”

 

“And what would that be?” Bit out Xenophilius, glaring up at the Lord intruding upon his home.

 

“I wish to speak to your daughter. I give my word that I will protect her from harm, and return her to you in a timely manner.” Lucius responded, voice remaining impeccably polite, despite the intense disdain he felt for his surroundings.

 

At Lucius’ words, Xenophilius’ face shifted, becoming a mask of anger, and when he spoke, fury was easily apparent in his voice. “How dare you! You come to my house uninvited, and you want to take my daughter? Why would I ever trust the word of scum like you? Get off of my-”

 

Here, Mister Lovegood was silenced by a soft voice from behind him, coming from somebody Lucius couldn’t see. “It’s okay daddy. Let me talk to him, I’m sure he wouldn’t do anything.” Face still full of rage, Xenophilius backed down, and reopened the door to reveal a young blonde girl, Luna, who stepped around her father to stand in the doorway. “Shall we Lord Malfoy?” Luna questioned, offering her hand, head cocked to the side curiously.

 

Without a word, Lucius took the offered hand, and in a swirl, they were gone, leaving only a quiet pop.

 

**POV Switch**

 

As Lucius Malfoy disapparated taking Luna with him, Xenophilius let out an incredibly deep sigh. Closing the door, he turned and walked back to the table, taking a seat. He loved his daughter dearly, but sometimes he wished she was normal. Or at least more normal. It would certainly be less stressful. Pushing his work for the Quibbler aside, Xenophilius prepared himself a cup of tea, and then sat down, watching the door, waiting for his daughter to return.

 

**A Forest On A Malfoy Estate**

 

With a small pop, two figures suddenly whirled into existence. Lucius looked down at the young girl holding his hand, and then led her over to a rather ornate stone bench, situated at one side of the clearing they were in.

 

As they sat down, Luna looked Lucius right in the eyes, and then spoke in a dreamy voice, “What was it that you wanted to talk to me about Lord Malfoy?”

 

Hesitating slightly before speaking, Lucius responded, trying to delicately skirt around the question. “Narcissa told me that you are able to See Luna, a gift that is incredibly rare.”

 

Luna let out a giggle, swinging her legs as she talked. “Being able to see isn’t rare silly. Most people can do it. Unless everybody else is blind and they’re just really good at hiding it!” Here Luna let out another giggle, before turning her head slightly, staring at a random tree in the woods.

 

Briefly turning his head to follow her gaze, Lucius quickly returned to looking at Luna. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Lucius spoke once more. “Surely you know what I mean. It is quite a rare blessing to be able to See the future.”

 

After over a full minute of near silence, broken only by Luna’s soft humming, she finally turned back to look at Lucius, a faint smile still on her face. “But how am I supposed to see the future when my eyes are in the now?”

 

As she spoke, Lucius did not miss that despite the dreamy look on her face, Luna’s eyes were sharp and focused, watching his own intently. When he continued speaking, his voice was slightly clipped, and had an undertone of impatience. “Don’t play the daft little girl. I’ve met people like you before, I know what you’re truly like. You agreed to talk to me, and I assume you had a reason. What was it?”

 

At this, Luna let out a short laugh, and then her face changed, no longer the picture of dreamy innocence that it had been before. The ever present smile gone from her face, and her eyes hard and more focused than ever, the look of seriousness she had was quite out of place for a girl of her age. Overall, it creates a rather disconcerting effect, which unnerved Lucius slightly, though he would never admit it.

 

Luna opened her mouth to talk, and the tone she spoke in held none of the childish naïveté it had before, instead it carried a seriousness and a weight one would normally expect from a wide Elder. “I very much doubt that you have ever met another like me Lucius Malfoy. Either way, you seem to have forgotten your manners. After all, it was I who asked the first question, and you have yet to answer it. What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

 

Taken aback slightly by the rapid shift in the girl sitting in front of him, Lucius hesitated slightly before speaking, still unwilling to give ground. “Surely you know what I wish to talk about, whereas I don’t know why you agreed.”

 

A grim smile on her face, Luna responded as soon as Lucius stopped speaking. “Of course. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to make you tell me. After all, if you don’t, how am I to know?” Her smile widened as she spoke, turning from something grim to something bordering on predatory by the time she had finished.

 

Letting out a sigh, Lucius decided to answer her question, thoroughly disconcerted by her behavior. Maybe she was right, and Lucius wasn’t dealing with what he thought he was. “I wish to talk to you about my son, and the beast that follows him.”

 

Wide grin still on her face, Luna opened her mouth once more. “And I agreed because I want you to talk to me about your son, and the creature that stays by his side. Now that we both know why we’re here, we can begin talking in ernest. I shall give you three questions, as I believe that is traditional, and I promise to answer them with complete honesty. Do feel free to begin when you feel ready.”

 

Lucius spent the next several minutes staring at the ground, thinking about what to ask, before finally settling on three relatively simple questions. Turning back to look at Luna, who was watching him intently, he asked his first question. “Very well then. What is the creature that follows my son?”

 

Letting out a small chuckle, Luna shook her head slightly before responding. “Now now Lucius. That would be telling, and some secrets must stay hidden a while longer. I won’t count that as a question. Do continue.”

 

Annoyed at the lack of an answer, but not fully surprised, Lucius forged on regardless. “Why is it following my son?”

 

“Now that is a much better question. You son is special Lucius, and the creature has chosen young Draco.”

 

“Is it dangerous to Draco?”

 

At this question, the smile once again disappeared from Luna’s, replaced with a solemn but distant look. When she spoke, it was in a low tone, which conveyed nothing but extreme seriousness. “Is a wand dangerous to the wizard the wields it?” She asked, staring distantly at something Lucius could not see. Seeming to snap back to reality she looked Lucius in the eye once more. “Only time will tell.”

 

Slightly disconcerted by this unusual answer, it was a moment before he asked his final question. “How can I kill it?”

 

“With extreme difficulty, and lots of help.” As soon as she finished speaking, her face started to shift once more, the dreamy smile creeping back, and her eyes losing the hard edge they’d held for most of the conversation. Taking this as a sign the conversation was over, Lucius stood up, and offered his hand to Luna once more.

 

**POV Switch**

 

As Luna took Lord Malfoy’s hand, she thought about the conversation. She was slightly irritated that she’d had to talk to him from the future, as that always gave her a headache. Regardless, he had needed to get some sort of answer soon, lest he go mad at the prospect of his ignorance. Besides, this conversation would lead to others, which needed to happen. If they didn’t, things tended to end badly. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Luna watched as fantastical creatures soared through the air, and she watched as their descendants did the same, having not a care in the world.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  A/N: Well that seems like a perfectly reasonable point to leave off. It’s always a joy to write Luna. I hope you enjoyed that. If you did, tell me what you liked about it in the comments. And if you hated it, tell me why as well. Always looking to improve my writing. Thanks for reading! Toodles!


	12. A Meeting With The Vampires

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter is our way later than it should have been, but that’s entirely my fault. Sorry. I had the first half finished two days ago and I just didn’t get around to actually completing it until today. I don’t own anything, enjoy the chapter.

 

Draco sat at his desk, quill in hand, considering what to write to his parents. It had been a rather uneventful three days of school. He hadn’t learned anything new in Potions or charms yet, and thus the only class where he’d done anything magically interesting had been transfiguration. He hadn’t managed to transfigure his needle first either, he’d been beat by Hermione. Speaking of his fellow classmates, Hermione was one of the few non-Slytherins he had any association with. Ronald Weasley was a complete imbecile, and managed to make himself a menace in any class they shared. Neville Longbottom was slightly disappointing, as his mother only ever had to good things to say about his family, but so far the only thing he wasn’t entirely incompetent at was Herbology. Thinking for a second, Draco realized that those were the only people outside of Slytherin that he really knew. Well that was unacceptable. As the future Lord Malfoy, he should be making friends. Hmm. Well he couldn’t worry about that now, he had a letter to write.

 

**Later That Night**

 

An unconscious Draco Malfoy floated through the halls of Hogwarts. Shadows moved with him, dimming torches and snuffing out candles as they passed by. Approaching an eagle shaped door knocker, the shadows paused, only to move again, slipping silently through the opening door. The shadows swept through the empty common room, passing the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, and entered the dormitories, where sleeping Ravenclaws slept. Coming to a stop near the first bed, containing a sleeping Indian girl, the shadows stood still. As they looked over the sleeping girl, she began to stir slightly, muttering in her now disturbed sleep. After a while, the shadows moved once more, coming to stand over another bed.

 

**The Next Day, Somewhere In Ireland**

 

A feral looking man was perched in a tree, his hostile eyes on a fancy looking house. The man’s face carried a vicious looking grin, made even more so by his filthy pointed teeth. Springing into sudden movement, the animalistic figure jumped down from the tree, and ran on all fours towards the house. Reaching a back door, clawed hands reached up and ripped it right off of its hinges, before the man entered the building through the ruined doorway. Tearing through the house, the man came upon a fireplace, the fading green embers of what was a fire smouldering within. Letting out a ferocious angry howl, Fenrir Greyback tore his way through the house, looking for any traces of his missing prey.

 

**That Afternoon, Hogwarts’ Dungeons**

 

Severus Snape swept through his classroom, watching his students work. Coming to a stop behind an oblivious male in yellow and black robes, Severus’ hand shot out, gripping the student’s, stopping him from putting whatever he was holding into the simmering cauldron.

  
“Do refrain from killing us with your overwhelming idiocy Mister Finch-Fletchley.” The potion master drawled, ignoring the way the Hufflepuff had jumped at his voice. “The instructions say to add crushed gillyweed leaves. These are gillyweed stems. Ten points from Hufflepuff for incompetence.”

 

Leaving the now stuttering Hufflepuff to no doubt continue to bungle his potion, Severus swept back to his desk, where he sat down and began to grade papers. The one on the top of the stack belonged to Miss Hermione Granger. Looking up at the girl in question, Severus considered her thoughtfully. She was good at Potions, though that seemed to be from an excess of studying rather than a natural talent. She was also friends with Draco, something that Severus was unlikely to admit he would never have seen coming. Who would have thought that the Malfoy heir would have made friends with a muggleborn? Still Severus could hardly disapprove of his choice. She was brilliant, though her talents seemed to tend more towards wandwork then potion making. Returning from his thoughts, he read her paper, an over length and extremely thorough essay on the pepper up potion.

 

**That Night, In Eastern Hungary**

 

Narcissa Malfoy strode up the long pathway, face cast in darkness beneath the cloudy sky. Looking up at the castle above her, she briefly considered its owner. Countess Elizabeth Bathory was a monster, even by vampiric standards. No doubt the choice of host was deliberate, intended by the Count to unnerve her, and throw her off her game. Well he would see exactly how well that worked out for him. As she continued to climb, she considered the last time she had stood before the entire Council of Elders. It had been soon after she graduated from Hogwarts, and directly following her engagement to Lucius. They had offered to turn her, claiming that a witch of her power and social standing would make an exceptional vampire, one who would someday be capable of joining their ranks. She had been flattered of course, not just by their assessment of her prowess, but by the offer to turn her personally, but she had declined regardless, deciding that her relationship with Lucius was worth more then the power she would gain. All these years later, she was still happy with her decision, especially since Draco would never have been born had she said yes.

 

She smiled slightly as she came to stand in front of the large wooden door to the castle, before steeling herself, and raising her hand to knock. The door swung upon as soon as her knuckles touched it, revealing an opulently decorated interior, wealth evident in everything from the beautiful tapestries to the ruby candleholders. Whoever decorated had clearly been fond of red, as the color dominated everything else. Quite fitting for a vampire, especially one like Countess Bathory. She was ushered into the castle by a vampiric thrall, wearing robes so expensive they were clearly a statement. Following the thrall through the castle, Narcissa was led to a richly decorated dining room, dimly lit by magical lighting. Stepping into the room, she was immediately confronted by a female vampire, looking resplendent in incredibly outdated robes.

 

“Hello Lady Malfoy.” Greeted the vampire, her flawless voice marred slightly by the tone of extreme mocking it carried. Then the women, who Narcissa recognized as Countess Bathory, moved extremely quickly, harshly gripping her wrist, and staring directly into her eyes. “Imagine seeing you again after you turned down our most generous offer.”

 

As the Countess finished speaking, Narcissa felt a foreign presence in her head. Not being good enough at occlumency to fend it off, she instead chose to slam the force of her mind against it, utilizing her offensive talents. Gritting her teeth, she glared at the women in front of her. “Get out of my head.” She growled, ripping her arm out of Bathory’s grasp.

 

The vampire let loose a vicious laugh as Narcissa felt the presence withdraw from her mind. “Not bad Narcissa. I even felt that.” The Countess replied, tone heavy with amusement, her face split by a fanged grin.

 

A voice Narcissa recognizes as Count Dracula’s cut through the room. “Mind your manners Elder Bathory. Lady Malfoy is here as a guest.” Suddenly right next to her, the Count took her hand, pressing a kiss against the back of it. “You look elegant as always, Lady Malfoy, and it pleases me immensely to know that your mental fortitude has continued to grow. I have asked the council, and with the exception of the darling Countess, we have agreed that our offer still stands, should you ever wish to take it.”

 

Pursing her lips, Narcissa turned to look Dracula in the eyes. “You flatter me Elder Dracula, but I have not come for idle chatter, nor to accept your generous offer.”

 

“Of course,” he responded, letting go of her hand. “Come, sit down, we have much to discuss.”

 

Following him, Narcissa sat down at the circular table, looking around at the thirteen vampires sitting around it. Some of them were older than the whole of wizarding Britain. She did not know who most of them were, as they were secretive, managing to stay out of myth and legend.

 

One of the oldest ones spoke, her voice soft, but still carrying throughout the room. “Why are you here Lady Malfoy? If you do not come here to be turned, what reason do you have to speak to the Council of Elders?”

 

Narcissa opened her mouth to respond immediately, having expected the conversation to start like this. “A creature of great power has started following my son, something which I assume you know. I came here to acquire knowledge on it, as I do not think it’s kind has walked this Earth for eons.” Taking a quick breath, Narcissa continued to speak. “I have looked into it, and I believe the creature to be-”

 

“BE SILENT.” A voice boomed, the force it carried at odds with the small hunched up figure it had emanated from. “Speak not their name, lest they hear you and answer.”

 

Nodding solemnly, Dracula spoke. “Elder Mathias is correct. To speak their name is to give them power which they should be denied. We are aware of the creature that follows your son, as well as it’s true nature. It’s presence is deeply concerning, as their kind was sealed away eons ago, requiring the combined efforts of all of creature kind to accomplish it. If this one is present now, that could mean the seals have weakened or even broken, which could be disastrous to all life on Earth. We have sent a vampire to investigate, and we have alerted several other races of creatures.”

 

Sighing lightly, Narcissa responded. “I looked, and the seal has indeed weakened. It’s not broken entirely, it still requires an equal exchange from our world, but passage between them is possible. The Black Grimoires contained no way to combat any but the weakest of their kind. Do you have anything I could do?”

 

The one Dracula has identified as Elder Mathias spoke once again. “If the seals have indeed weakened that is quite worrying. It is fortunate that this one has attached itself to your son instead of wrecking the havoc normally associated with it’s kind. However, it is also worrying, as they become vastly more dangerous when they have someone to defend. We must hope that your son keeps it from unleashing it’s true potential.”

 

Another vampire, this one much less human in form, continued to speak where the other Elder left off. “There is very little simple wizarding magic that can combat the strong amongst them.” He spoke, his voice carrying a hiss. “However, if you were to embrace vampirism, you would find yourself with a new and more powerful arsenal at your disposal.”

 

“I am still unwilling to give up my humanity at this time.” Narcissa responded, lips pressed together in a thin grimace. “I have a son and a husband, a life in the wizarding world. Surely you have some magic that I could use, even while only a witch?”

 

A new female voice spoke up, coming from directly across the table. “Those things will pass, my dear. All human lives eventually come to an end.” The voice was soft and calculating, that of a seasoned predator. Suddenly, with a flash of movement, the speaker was no longer seated, but rather right behind Narcissa, speaking directly into her ear. “I happen to have several ancient Grimoires of great power, many of which contain magic that could be of great help to you.” The voice got even more predatory here, and Narcissa could practically hear the smile. “I would be willing to give them to you in exchange for a promise. After all, you need not join us now, only eventually. And that is the promise that I require.”

 

Narcissa was shaken by the vampire’s words, and by the fact that she had spoken at all. She was the oldest being at the table, by over five millennia. Her offer was extremely tempting, seemingly giving the best of both worlds. Looking straight ahead, at the seat the Elder vampire had vacated, Narcissa asked a question. “How long?”

 

The voice that responded was one that sounded extremely pleased. “I would give you 50 years Narcissa dear. A mere blink of an eye to a vampire, but quite a while to you. What do you say?”

 

Narcissa closed her eyes, brow furrowed in thought. After almost fifteen minutes, she opened them once more, and responded to the vampires question. “Fine. Fifty years and I will join you. In return you will give me Grimoires that contain magic capable of fighting creatures like the one following Draco.”

 

“Then it's a deal.” The vampire returned, pulling several tomes from within her robe, and setting them on the table in front of Narcissa. “I shall turn you personally in fifty years time. Of course, you are also free to request being turned earlier if you wish.”

 

The eyes of the other vampires widened visibly at the declaration that she would turn Narcissa personally. The brief second of silence was then broken by the voice of Countess Bathory, suddenly sounding slightly irate. “Very well then. If that’s all, can she get out of my castle?”

 

“Be polite Countess Bathory,” came the voice of Elder Mathias. “That being said, if that is all Lady Malfoy, I would ask you to leave, so we may continue our meeting in peace.”

 

Rising from her seat, Narcissa quickly took her leave, overall satisfied with how things had turned out. Of course, now she would become a vampire in fifty years. How on earth was she supposed to tell Lucius? Either way, that was a problem for another day.

 

**Back At Hogwarts**

 

Ronald Weasley lay on his bed, irritated as he went to fall asleep. Stupid Draco Malfoy kept ruining things. He made Ron look like an idiot all the time during Potions, knowing the answers to the ridiculous questions Snape kept asking. It wasn’t fair. If Ron was rich and had been taught by expensive tutors he’d be even better than dumb Malfoy. It wasn’t his fault his family was poor. He’d show Malfoy though. He’d been paying attention in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he was going to challenge Malfoy to a duel. Satisfied with his brilliant plan to take care of the terrible Malfoy, Ron fell asleep, a smile adorning his face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay, that’s another chapter finished. A couple of things though before I’m done. The first one: the vampires. The main thing I wanted to address is the honor of being turned by the Elders, and the reason everybody was surprised when the oldest elder (who I haven’t decided on a name for yet) offered to turn Narcissa. The way I’m doing vampires is relatively simple. They get more powerful as they get older, and the more powerful a vampire is, the stronger the vampires they turn will be. In addition, there is a ceremony that vampires undertake to become a vampire Elder, which grants them more power and a host of other benefits. Second thing: Ron. I really really dislike him, and as such that will color how I write him. I apologize for that to a certain extent. I just wanted to clarify here how I see Ron as a character, and give a basic idea of how I’m going to write him. Basically, as far as I can tell, Ron is a bit of an idiot, who has an inferiority complex because of his older brothers being better than him, which has caused him to be super jealous all the time. That’s basically it. I’m not saying it’s his fault that he is the way he is, I’m just saying that I don’t like him regardless. That’s my spiel, tell me what you think about this chapter in the comments. Until next time, Toodles!


	13. A Discussion With A Dark Lord

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Here’s the next chapter, I own nothing. Also, there’s a bit of a time skip. The previous chapter ended on the night of the 5th of September, this chapter will pick up on the 13th, which is a Friday, in case anybody is interested.

 

Dumbledore looked up at the imposing gates in front of him. Wind and rain whipped around him as he read the words emblazoned on it, as he did every time he visited. FOR THE GREATER GOOD. Shaking his head, he brandished his wand at the gates, causing them to swing open. They closed behind him with a slam as he walked up the mostly ruined pathway towards the infamous prison. Checking in with the guard, Dumbledore quickly made his way towards the only occupied cell in the building, letting the door creak open to a barely lit room. The figure in the corner moved, looking up at Dumbledore, before letting out a wrecking cough.

 

“Hello Albus.” The weak figure coughed out, voice raspy with disuse.

 

Dumbledore looked down at the ragged man, before closing the door and conjuring a seat. “Hello Gellert.”

 

The man in question, Gellert Grindelwald, grinned, showing the few remaining teeth he had. “It’s been quite a while. What brings you to this abysmal pit of mine?”

 

Dumbledore sat there for a while, simply watching the man who had been his friend and more all those years ago. When he finally did open his mouth to speak, his voice was tired and solemn, very much carrying the age that he felt. “I held off coming here for much longer than I intended. I’ve been planning a visit for almost a month now.”

 

“And what could possibly make you come and see little old me? After all you went to quite the effort to lock me away here after destroying my grand plan.” Continued Grindelwald, his tone displaying none of the bitterness one would expect given his words.

 

“Your plan wasn’t entirely unsuccessful. One of them got out.” Dumbledore said ruefully, continuing at the raised eyebrow from the former Dark Lord. “I don’t know where it came from, but it's certainly here now. It’s attached itself to a boy, the young Malfoy Heir.”

 

At Dumbledore’s words, Gellert Grindelwald, among the most feared Dark Lords of all time, burst into boisterous laughter. The laugh turned into a hacking cough halfway through, but as he wound down, Dumbledore could see the wide grin on his face, and the amused glint in his eyes.

 

“Yes, it’s quite amusing I’m sure. I assure you, I find it nowhere near as humorous as you. I came to ask you for help, even after all this time. I can’t find anything that works against it, even with Fawkes’ help.”

 

Still grinning, the Grindelwald responded. “There’s not much you can do old friend. Even at our best you and me are just human, and wizards have fallen from their great and lofty heights. Hogwarts though contains ancient magic, it thrums with power, with spells lost forever in the mists of time. Now please Albus, leave me be. I’m an old man, and I need my rest.”

 

“As you wish.” Dumbledore said sadly, standing up as the chair he had been sitting on vanished. Looking back into the dismal cell, he waved his wand, and a wave of magic spread across it, cleaning the walls, and making the rags Grindelwald was wearing a little less ragged. Closing the door, he walked slowly out of the prison, looking sadly up at the gray sky.

 

**At Hogwarts, At The Same Time**

 

Draco was enjoying himself. Even though the brooms were old and poor quality, there was something about flying that he could never get enough of. It still wasn’t as magical as flying with his creature friend though. Coming out of his thoughts as he heard Madam Hooch’s whistle, Draco brought his broom in to land. He looked concernedly at Hermione, who was vomiting next to her broom, probably from motion sickness. He listened to Hooch’s standard spiel about not flying while she was gone with disinterest, and got lost in thoughts of flying, held aloft by pitch black wings. He was pulled out of his thoughts once again by a voice, one which, to his displeasure, he recognized.

 

“Oi! Malfoy!” The grating voice of Ronald Weasley cut across Draco’s ears as he watched the boy approach him, shooting the annoying Gryffindor a disgusted look.

 

“What could you possibly want Weasley?” Draco responded, sneer evident in his voice. “I thought I made it clear that I have no desire to talk to you, or be in your presence, ever.”

 

Weasley’s face reddened with anger at Draco’s words, and the next words he spoke were spat out, hostility evident with every syllable. “I challenge you to a duel! Just you and me!”

 

Looking at Weasley like he was something found on the bottom of a shoe, Draco decided responding was beneath him, so he turned away and walked over to Pansy and Blaise, leaving a sputtering Weasley behind him.

 

**Later That Night, The Headmaster’s Office**

 

Dumbledore looked at his desk, where a ward map of Hogwarts was lying. Gellert had said to use Hogwarts’ ancient magic. That wasn’t particularly helpful, because as far as he could see, the only ready access he had to the ancient wards was to set new rules, which would effect all of Hogwarts, not just the creature. Shaking his head, Dumbledore resolved to continue looking into it tomorrow, and headed off to bed.

 

**Malfoy Manor**

 

Lucius looked up as the door to his bedroom opened. When he saw who it was, his face broke into a weary smile. “Hello dearest. I’ve missed you. Did you have success?”

 

His smile faded slightly when he saw the weary look on Narcissa’s face as she responded. “I think it’s best to talk about that tomorrow Lucius dear. For now let’s just go to sleep.”

 

Nodding his head in agreement, Lucius moved over slightly, making room for his wife. As she settled in beside him, and Lucius drifted off the sleep, he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened.

 

**The Next Day, At Hogwarts**

 

A blonde boy ran walked carefree along the edge of a dark and foreboding forest. Behind him followed an inhuman figure, keeping watch over the young boy. Right now, it’s eyes were fixed on the skeletal equine figures that stood at the edge of the woods, their shocking visage appearing to face the boy not even a little. With his attention on the skeletal horses, the creature failed to notice the red headed boy sneaking up, wand held out in front of him.

 

**POV Switch**

 

Ronald Weasley looked at the boy up ahead. Stupid Draco Malfoy, always acting like he was better. Refusing to duel him, probably because he was scared. Well Ron hadn’t put the work in for nothing, and now he was going to get Malfoy. Sneaking through the field, Ron pointed his wand at Malfoy, and whispered the words to the stinging hex. A bolt of sharp red light kept out of his wand, hitting Malfoy, who let loose a sharp yelp. Ron let out a loud laugh, and his face morphed into a happy grin. Then the shadows around Malfoy surged forwards, and Ron’s laugh turned into a scream.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And that’s a wrap folks, at least for this chapter. Yeah I know it’s a bit of a cliff hanger, and it’s a really short chapter, but I wanted to get this up before I went to bed, so I’m ending it here. Next chapter we get to see how screwed Ron is. Lol. Expect that sometime tomorrow. Toodles!


	14. A Tragic Occurrence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Here’s the next chapter, picking up where the last on left off. I’ll probably combine the two at some point. I dunno. Anyway, I don’t own anything, enjoy reading.

 

Dumbledore sprang up from his desk as many of the trinkets places around the room started to wail. “Fawkes!” He called, his voice full of urgency.

 

Springing from his perch with a cry, Fawkes launched himself towards Dumbledore’s outstretched hand, both of them disappearing in a flash of fire.

 

**Elsewhere On Hogwarts Grounds**

 

Dumbledore rematerialized in a flash, Fawkes clinging to his arm. His eyes twinkled with magic, but his expression did not match that fact. Around him swirled a storm of darkness, angry evil magic laced into every part of it. Only three figures were visible in this overwhelming wave of magic. The first was young Draco, looking scared and confused, off to the side, nursing what appeared to be a slightly hurt hand. The second was Draco’s follower, wings fully extended and a look of rage on its face. As Dumbledore looked towards the third, his wand leapt to his hand, and he ran forward. For suspended in the air, having his very life choked out of him by magic, was Ronald Weasley.

 

As Dumbledore approached, the creature’s head snapped towards him, and it let out a vicious snarl, a warning which Dumbledore ignored. “Stop this!” Yelled Dumbledore, much of his voice lost to the whirling storm, but enough of it carrying through the creature could hear. Answering only with a snarl, the inhuman beast turned back to Ron, who was slowly turning red as he choked to death.

 

“No!” Bellowed Dumbledore, jabbing his wand in the direction of the creature. From its tip shot chains of magic, latching onto the creature’s arms. “You shall not kill! Not at Hogwarts!”

 

Roaring, the creature pulled furiously against the chains as Ron starting drifting slowly to the ground. The chains held firm however, no matter how hard the creature pulled.

 

“You shall not kill!” Dumbledore’s voice boomed once more, as he stood, a pillar against the raging storm of dark magic.

 

Letting loose another snarling growl, the creature turned its furious eyes towards Dumbledore. “Fine.” It growled out, rage apparent in every fiber of its being. At its words, the chains faded, and the creature whipped back around towards Ron.

 

As the magic surged towards Ron, Dumbledore’s eyes widened, and he called out, alarm apparent in his voice. “NO!”

 

**POV Switch**

 

Draco Malfoy looked at the scene unfolding around him with equal parts fear and confusion. He had suddenly felt pain, and then the shadows had surged forward around him. His creature friend had emerged from the darkness, and launched himself towards Ronald Weasley, who Draco hadn’t seen before. He hadn’t seen his creature friend this angry before, even with his mother. He watched with worry as Weasley was lifted into the air and ruthlessly attacked by magic. Suddenly, Dumbledore appeared, and started yelling at the creature, casting magic. Draco couldn’t tell exactly what was going on, but it appeared Weasley had been released, and Dumbledore was no longer freaking out. Then Dumbledore yelled once more, and Draco felt all the magic around him surge towards Weasley. He watched as the ground appeared to rise up around the redhead, who was reaching for the sky. Before his eyes, Weasley shifted and changed, until where he had stood there was now a small tree, shaking in the wind. If you looked you could see where his face had been. There was a moment of calm before Draco fully registered what he had just seen. Weasley has been turned into a tree! What! Before Draco could freak out entirely, the creature came to stand in front of him in a flash of movement. Draco watched with idle interest as one of the creature’s clawed fingers tapped him on the forehead, and then his world went dark.

 

**At The Same Time, Inside Hogwarts Castle**

 

Quirinus Quirrell sat at the desk in his room, head in his hands, trying to ignore his splitting headache. Voldemort just wouldn’t shut up! It was always “You must get the stone Quirinus,” or “You’re making people suspicious Quirinus.” He never should have agreed to this he thought, letting out a groan.

 

A hissing sound interrupted his thoughts of self pity. “Quirinussss, ssssomthing issss happening. I can ssssensssse it.”

 

Quirrell was pretty crabby at this point honestly. Enough to talk back to the dark lord even. “I can’t sense anything. What in Merlin’s name are you going on about?”

 

“You ssssensssse nothing becausssse you are weak, Quirinussss.” Hissed Voldemort, as another wave of pain shot through Quirrell's head. “Go to the window! Let me ssssee!”

 

Groaning, Quirrell rose from his seat, and stumbled over to the window, where he hastily unwrapped his turban, and turned around. There was nothing but silence from the dark lord, at least until Quirrell felt a layer of magic settle around them, bringing forth a stream of vile hissing as the dark lord let loose a stream of curses in a mix of parseltongue and hissed English. Quirrell let out a short scream as he felt the dark lord briefly seize the body, wrenching his wand out of his robes.

 

Pointing the wand at an owl resting on a nearby perch, Voldemort hissed out _“Avada Kedavra,”_ letting loose a scream of rage when his wand lit up green before flickering out.

 

Quirrell almost fell over as the body was suddenly relinquished back to him. “What is it Master?” He stammered out, having no idea what could have provoked this level of anger.

 

“I cannot kill, Quirinussss!” The dark lord hissed out, his voice laced with extreme fury.

 

As his head began to pulse with some of the most intense pain he had ever felt, Quirinus Quirrell managed to stumble over to his bed before collapsing. This was going to be a long and miserable day.

 

**Back Outside, By The Forbidden Forest**

 

Dumbledore watched incredulously as one of his students was turned into a tree. How could he have allowed this to happen on his watch? As the swirling magic faded around him, he walked up to the plant that used to be Ron Weasley, and started casting every magic reversing spell he knew. As he had expected, none of them had any effect. Dumbledore hardly noticed when the creature slinked off, an unconscious Draco floating along with him. Dumbledore could deal with that another time. Right now he had many other things he needed to do. He would need to come up with some sort of cover story, but that was rather simple, saying a creature got out of the forest should suffice. He would also have to alert the teachers of the rule change, and set it up so that Hagrid could take care of the numerous creatures that would be affected by it. The most daunting task he had ahead of him, however, would be telling the Weasley family what had happened to their youngest son, especially in light of the fact that Dumbledore had no immediate way to fix the issue. Fawkes on his shoulder, Dumbledore turned and began the walk towards the castle, his face seeming much wearier, and his body more aged then they had been when he had woken up this morning.

 

**Later That Day, In The Headmaster’s Office**

 

A flustered Molly Weasley bustled out of the floo, looking around the Headmaster’s Office. Spotting her husband, she rushed over to him, giving him a hug and receiving a quick peck in return.

 

“I left Ginny with the Lovegoods, it’s so nice of Xenophilius to take her like that, how has your day been Arthur dear, do you know what the twins did this time?” Molly spoke rapid fire, seemingly ignorant to such things as pausing between sentences.

 

As Arthur opened his mouth to answer his wife, the door to the office opened, and Dumbledore came in, followed by the twins, as well as Percy.

 

As Molly bustled over to her children, Arthur took in the obvious absence, as well as the grim look on Dumbledore’s face, and put two and two together, arriving at a conclusion he didn’t like one bit. In a surprisingly even tone, given the frantic worry starting to creep into his features, Arthur looked Dumbledore right in the eyes and asked “Where is Ron? What has happened to my son Dumbledore?”

 

Hearing the question Molly froze, a look of fear and worry quickly enveloping her face. “What do you mean Arthur?” She questioned, unwilling to believe what her husband was trying to say. Looking over towards the Headmaster, she questioned him as well. “What’s going on Dumbledore?”

 

Letting out a sorry sigh, Dumbledore averted his eyes from the worried parents in front of him. In a soft tone which was full of sadness and regret, he responded. “Why don’t you all sit down. I have some unfortunate news that I need to share with you.”

 

As the present Weasleys sat down, Molly was clinging to Arthur, almost in tears, not quite knowing what was going on, but sure that it couldn’t be anything good. As Dumbledore explained, she proceeded to full blown tears, horrified by what had happened to her youngest son.

 

**A Little Bit Later**

 

As Dumbledore watched the the Weasley adults disappear into the floo a wave of guilt about the situation hit him. Before it could overwhelm him, he pushed it to the back of his head, ignoring it and penning it in. He couldn’t afford to feel guilt right now. There were things that needed to be done. Only then could he allow himself to feel bad about the mistakes that he had made. Picking up a quill, Dumbledore began to write.

 

_Dear Narcissa,_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: That’s all for this chapter folks! I do have one or two things to say though. First off, no, Ron’s not a tree forever, that would be a total cop out on my part. He’s only a tree for a little while. Second, it really bothers me to write Lord Voldemort hissy speech patterns. It just looks weird and I don’t like it. That’s not really important though, I’m just saying. Third, and the one that actually matters, Dumbledore stopping the creature from killing. What he did was set a magically enforced school rule, like what was mentioned in the previous chapter. That hits relatively simple. The reason I’m bringing it up is for those of you who are like “But why wouldn’t he have done that awhile ago, that seems like a common sense rule” or “why would that not be part of Hogwarts’ wards in the first place” or even “Why would be stop at killing and not go for you shall do no harm?” I’m gonna answer each of these, and if you have more questions about this or other stuff, whether from past or future chapters, feel free to ask them in the comments. For that first one, it doesn’t just affect a specific target, and indeed effects more than just wizards. It’s a magically enforced rule that no living thing on Hogwarts grounds shall kill anything else. This is an issue because it means that anything in the lake or forest that is carnivorous can’t really hunt anymore (hence Dumbledore needing to make arrangements with Hagrid) and certain classes like potions will also be inhibited. In fact, Dumbledore may even have to repeal the rule, and try to mitigate damages another way. The second one is relatively simple. In  addition to the reasons I just gave, when Hogwarts’ was founded it would have been in the era where fuels to the death over petty crap was completely normal, and killing was a lot more accepted. And for the last one, not only would it be more difficult to set a more broad rule (because it is incredibly difficult and draining both magically and physically), but if it got to restricting, the creature could just pick up his victims, carry them across the ward line, and murder them there. Also Dumbledore probably wasn’t thinking about preventing future issues in the heat of the moment, he was probably focused on making sure Ron didn’t get completely murdered. Anyway, thanks for reading, leave your thoughts in the comments. Toodles!


	15. A Serious Conversation Or Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is the next chapter, enjoy! I don’t own anything.

Narcissa was sitting in her study, reading the Grimoires she’d acquired, when she heard a knock on the door. Opening it with a flick of her wand, she saw Lucius standing in the doorway and sighed slightly. She’d been avoiding this conversation all day. 

 

As Lucius opened his mouth to speak, Narcissa shook her head, gesturing for him to be quiet. “Let’s not do this here love. This may take awhile.”

 

Nodding his understanding, Lucius followed her to their private sitting room, calling for a house elf to bring them some tea. He sat down across from her, and sat there looking at her in silence, waiting for her to speak.

 

After a while, Narcissa finally spoke, her voice much more hesitant than normal, “I may have done something foolish.” She continued when Lucius merely raised an eyebrow, “You knew that I was going to meet with the vampiric Elder Council. What I’ve never told you is that I’ve met with them before.” Seeing her husbands look of surprise as he prepared to speak, Narcissa rushed ahead, determined to say her piece. “It was right after we got engaged. They approached me, simply waiting in my room one night. They offered to turn me personally, saying that I would make an excellent vampire, one who would likely sit on the Council one day. I said no, because I wanted to have a life with you, and I’ve never once regretted that decision.”

 

Sitting there silently for a minute, Lucius broke the silence, speaking in a soft voice. “I am extremely glad you made the choice you did. Why are you telling me this now? Did it effect your meeting with the Council?”

 

Letting out a short huff of laughter Narcissa answered, a rye smile on her face. “I suppose you could say it did. As soon as the meeting began, it became clear that with the exception of the Red Countess, they all still wanted to turn me. I ignored it, and explained the situation before asking for help. The told me there was very little I could do as a witch, again suggesting that becoming a vampire was my best option. I was unhappy about the lack of progress, but as I was considering excusing myself, Elder Badb spoke up.”

 

Lucius’ eyes widened slightly in shock, a significant event given his normally flawless composure. Politely cutting off whatever Narcissa was about to say, Lucius asked a quick question. “The Empress of Blood? That Badb?”

 

With a slightly bitter smile, Narcissa responded. “Do you know of any other my dear? She spoke up, saying she was in possession of several ancient Grimoires that contained helpful magic. She offered to give them to me, but only on the condition that I agree to be vampirized in fifty years time. And, well…” Here Narcissa paused slightly, taking a deep breath, before finishing her statement, “I said yes. So as it stands, if we do nothing, I will be turned by her personally in slightly less than fifty years time.”

 

Upon hearing her words, Lucius nearly spit out the tea he was drinking. Coughing slightly as he swallowed, he spoke once more, his voice louder than what was normal. “You do realize that you will be expected to keep your promise? I have no idea how we would even begin to go about getting you out of it!”

 

Looking her husband directly in the eye, Narcissa calmly took a sip of her tea. “Of course I do Lucius darling. But what else was I to do? It was the first thing we’ve come across with any hope of working. Besides, fifty years is a long time, and much can change. I do wonder though whether I will come to regret saying no. Being a vampire would protect Draco so much more.”

 

“And it would put you in more danger then you can possibly imagine.” Lucius responded, face grim. “The situation is not yet that desperate, and we must hope that it never gets there.”

 

“Of course,” Narcissa said softly, a faint smile on her lips. “We must always hope.”

 

**On Hogwarts Grounds, At Dusk**

 

If one were standing outside Hogwarts grounds, and looked very carefully with an eagle eye, they might see the faint ripple moving through the air. The ripple appeared to be humanoid in shape, and it moved towards an odd looking tree, one which had not been present that morning. Reaching the tree, the ripple stayed almost still for several minutes, before extending an appendage to snap off a small branch from the tree. Taking its leave, the ripple quickly vanished, leaving behind only a faint scent of potion refuse.

 

**In The Slytherin Dormitory**

 

Draco awoke with a start. After a brief second of confused disorientation, he began looking around the room, stopping when his eyes landed on another pair, glowing bright green.

 

“You knocked me out! You attacked Weasley! YOU TURNED HIM INTO A TREE!!! You knocked me out without warning me!” Draco exclaimed, riding a whirling storm of conflicting emotions. 

 

However, when he failed to garner a response, annoyance surged to the foreground. Jumping down from his bed, he stomped petulantly towards the creature. 

 

“Are you listening to me?” Draco bit out, his tone one of exceptional crabiness. 

 

A quick touch from the creature had Draco’s words replayed in front of him. So clearly he was being listened to. Calming down slightly, Draco took a couple of deep breaths, and thought about the situation. 

 

No longer as annoyed, he looked towards the creature and spoke, trying to find out what in Merlin’s name had happened. “What happened? Why did you attack Weasley?” Draco questioned, holding his hand out towards the creature.

 

The creature took his hand, and Draco’s world was swept away. Looking around, he saw the scene from earlier this morning. There was an extremely odd looking horse near the forest that he definitely hadn’t seen, which was weird given how close to him it was. Looking around, he saw Weasley’s telltale mop of red hair, the attached body moving with what could generously be described as stealth. Draco watched as Weasley fired a rather painful stinging hex out of his wand, and as a wave of darkness surged towards the redhead, Draco slowly drifted back to reality.

 

Looking up at the creature once more, Draco opened his mouth once more. “Ok, so you were defending me, but why did you turn him into a tree? It was just a stinging hex!”

 

With another swirl of change, Draco watched Dumbledore flash into existence amidst a raging storm of magic. While he hadn’t been able to hear what the elderly headmaster had been yelling before, he could now. His eyes widened in shock at the meaning behind the headmasters words, realizing that the creature hadn’t just attacked Weasley, but had done so with the intent to kill. 

 

As he landed back in reality, his emotions were turbulent and varied once more. “YOU WERE GOING TO KILL HIM! Why? He just hit me with a stinging hex!”

 

With a brief flash, Draco watched himself yelp in pain, and felt an extreme surge of rage wash over him, but both the image and the emotion faded quickly.

 

The creature’s voice sounded in Draco’s ears. “Protect.”

 

“I can protect myself you know.” Draco said, eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. “You don’t have to do that, especially over something so minor! You can’t just go around killing people, you’ll get in trouble!”

 

As a surge of confusion poured over Draco, he let out a deep sigh. How do you explain the concept of laws and social norms to somebody completely foreign to them? Shaking his head, Draco started to prepare for bed as he tried his best to explain.

 

**Later That Night, Elsewhere In The Castle**

 

A muffled voice could be heard in the hallway, slowly growing louder. “-ected occurrence. I haven’t been able to find out what happened, have you?” The voice was male and kindly, his tone practically glowing with good will.

 

Another male voice answered, this one much gruffer in tone. “Irritatingly, no. I asked the others, and even talked to some of the portraits, but no luck.” As the unseen voice spoke, two figures floated out of the wall, and the source of the conversation was now visible. 

 

The two men were both ghosts, their pale and translucent forms making that fact readily evident. The first man who had spoken was short and a bit portly, wearing simple friars robes. The second’s ghostly form was stained with blood, and a faint rattling could be heard from the chains he wore.

 

The second ghost continued talking as the two floated through the castle, ignoring such trivial things as walls. “I’m almost positive Helena knows something, but she’s unlikely to talk to me about it. The student in question was one of Nicholas’ I believe.” A faint smile entered the man’s ghostly face as he spoke those final words.

 

The shorter ghost gave a short disapproving sniff before responding. “The boy’s house doesn’t make it any less of a tragedy. Regardless, I’ll see if Helena will talk to me. I must say, that despite my horror at the event, I cannot disapprove of the method. I haven’t seen anybody get turned into a tree in ages. That sort of thing is usually only done by nature spirits, and practically all of them are asleep nowadays.”

 

“Blame the muggles.” Shot back the gruff voice, before the man’s face shifted to something of a frown. “Whatever the cause, Peeves seems absolutely giddy about it. I was called to deal with him three separate times today.”

 

“Have you noticed how Cuthberts been acting lately?” The stoutly man asked, changing the subject.

 

“I hardly notice anything about him at all nowadays,” the other replied as both of their voices and forms began to fade off into the distance.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Nothing really happened in this chapter, but there was a lot of dialogue. Thanks for reading! Please do tell me what you think in the comments below. Toodles!


	16. An Unsanctioned Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Here’s the next chapter folks. I own nothing, please enjoy.

House elves were not normally prone to idle chatter. By their very nature they tended to avoid such things unless it was needed, because it would slow down whatever job they were doing. That’s why it was so odd that in the Hogwarts kitchens, a low murmur of conversation could be heard. With so many voices talking at once, it was difficult to make out any individual words, but the overall tone was frantic, spoken in hushed tones, and punctuated with worried glances. Had there been anybody around to witness this phenomenon, they might have asked the house elves what was going on. Alas, the kitchens had no visitors that day.

 

**Ottery St Catchpole, Three Days Prior**

 

Luna sighed as she looked down at the bottle in her hand. She really didn’t want to do this. She loved her dad, and she knew breaking his trust like this would feel utterly abysmal. She had to though. Otherwise things tended to end poorly. And while daddy was generally accepting of his daughters oddities, she knew that this would be going to far.

 

“Luna?” She heard her dad call from the other room, and her heart broke a little bit.

 

Still she was resolute. She quickly emptied to bottles contents into the teacup in front of her. “Coming daddy!” She called, bringing the teacup with her, forcing a smile onto her face.

 

As she walked to the other room, the creatures floating around her moved quickly, darting around in a roiling mass. They were doing that more than normal nowadays. Handing her dad the teacup and giving him a quick kiss, she sat next to him and waited. After a minute of chatting, Luna’s hand darted out, snatching the falling cup from the air. Setting it down and grabbing a bag she’d been packing for several days, Luna took a long look at her now unconscious father.

 

“I love you daddy. I’m sorry.” She whispered softly, even though she knew he couldn’t hear her. With those final words, she she flung some powder into the fire place and stepped through, into the lobby of Gringotts.

 

A short while later she stood in front of what had been her mother’s vault, watching as the door slowly opened. Smiling widely at her goblin companion, she thanked him before stepping through the entryway. Looking around the vault, she quickly found what she was seeking. In one of the corners was a simple wooden chest, her name engraved in the lid. Walking over and opening it up, she looked at the numerous packages within. As she sorted through them, a wistful smile crept across her face.

 

**The Headmaster’s Office, September 16th**

 

Dumbledore looked up from his work as he heard the stairs to his office begin to turn. Silently casting a monitoring charm, he watched as a young blonde woman, in her twenties most likely, ascended the stairs. 

 

Before she could knock, the elderly headmaster spoke up. “Please come in Miss.”

 

Standing up to greet her, Dumbledore held out his hand to the unknown woman. “I wasn’t expecting any visitors today. How may I help you?”

 

Letting out a quick laugh, the woman tapped the pendant she was wearing. As soon as she did, her form started to change, resolving itself into that of a much smaller female, still blonde, but oddly dressed.

 

Hiding his surprise at this turn of events, Dumbledore looked at the young girl appraisingly. Taking in her odd attire, including what appeared to radish earrings, he came to a conclusion quite quickly.

 

“Ah. Miss Lovegood I assume?” Receiving a giggle and a nod, he continued. “Please, do sit down, make yourself comfortable. Would you care for a lemon drop?”

 

Taking the offered candy and sitting down, Luna seemed perfectly content to simply stare dreamily in Dumbledore’s general direction.

 

Taking a minute to decide what to say, Dumbledore eventually opted to go with the simple choice. “So, Miss Lovegood, may I ask why you’ve come to Hogwarts today? And in disguise without your father no less?”

 

The young blonde responded in a cheery tone. “I came to ask you for help, but I didn’t want to get in trouble for being alone.” Here her cheeriness diminished slightly, and the smile faded from her face. “But daddy wouldn’t approve, so I couldn’t tell him.”

 

When Dumbledore spoke again, he managed to keep most of the concern he was feeling out of his tone. “Miss Lovegood I hope you know that running away from your parents is rarely a good idea. Surely your father must be worried? What help do you require that is this important?”

 

Despite the dreamy look still in her eyes, Luna responded to Dumbledore in a rather serious tone. “I put daddy to sleep before I left. He’ll be fine until I get back. I have some things I need to do. I need your help to get somewhere, because I don’t have the money to buy an international portkey. Can you help me Mister Dumbledore?”

 

His voice now showing more of the worry he felt, Dumbledore tried to stop this terrible course of action. “International adventures are quite dangerous for children on of your age Miss Lovegood. I couldn’t possibly encourage something like that. You should go back home, I’d be willing to take you. If what you need to do is so important, surely you can get somebody else to do it?” As he finished speaking, the headmaster rose from his seat and walked around the desk. Hopefully he could convince her to abandon this path willingly. 

 

He opened his mouth to speak once again, but as he was doing so, Luna stared directly at him, her eyes shifting, changing, losing the childlike innocence they contained before, and gaining an immense age. 

 

Stopped by this sudden shift in demeanor, Luna had already began to speak by the time Dumbledore had adjusted. “Do you know what it is that will tip the balance Albus Dumbledore?” Luna asked, her eyes boring themselves into the headmasters skull. Not giving him enough time to answer, she continued on. “Of course you don’t, for you have yet to see the balance begin to shift.”

 

Realizing he was talking to something, someone he didn’t quite understand, Dumbledore simply spoke, his words no longer as carefully thought out as they had been. “The balance is preserved! Grindelwald is long defeated and Voldemort lacks such devastating plans!”

 

“You are a leader amongst the wizards Albus Dumbledore. Such folly does not become you. The balance will shift, as it has before. The scales must become balanced, and I have seen what I need to have done.” As she spoke, Luna’s voice seemed to acquire a myriad of unnatural echos, seeming originating from empty air. “You must help me Albus Dumbledore. You regretted it when you did not.”

 

Shaken by her words, and by how they had been said, Dumbledore responded almost on instinct, flicking his wand at a nearby paperweight, and murmuring a spell  _ “Portus Aeternia.” _ The marble lion briefly glowed blue, before returning to its normal color.

 

Tapping her pendent once more, Luna’s form shifted back to that of an adult. Taking the paperweight from the desk, she looked towards Dumbledore and gave a nod, before speaking. “Athens, Greece.”

 

After watching her disappear in a swirl, there was a few minutes of silence before one of the portraits on the wall spoke up. “You do realize that you just gave a child an illegal international portkey correct?”

 

Responding only with a sigh, Dumbledore sat back down at his desk. He needed to reconsider his course of action.

 

**In A Castle Somewhere In Ireland**

 

Deep within a large stone castle, an elegantly dressed woman stood up to her ankles in blood. She appeared not to notice, choosing instead to gaze into bowl made of an unidentifiable metal that sat perched upon an elaborate pedestal. Inside the bowl was yet more blood, churning violently within its container. Bringing her hand towards the bowl, she reached in, seizing something obscured by the blood. Withdrawing her hand, she glanced towards the dripping object held in her grasp. It was a small key made of a dark black material, seemingly designed for simplicity rather than beauty. Turning from the bowl and walking away, she vanished from view mid stride, leaving nothing but a room stinking of offal and death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And that’s another chapter finished folks. I hoped you enjoyed reading it, because it was a pain in the ass to write. I don’t know why but I was. Leave your thoughts, praises, criticism, or whatever in the comments below. I’ll have the next chapter up at some point soon. Toodles!


	17. An Obligatory Author’s Note

Hey Everybody. This isn’t an actual chapter. It’s an author’s note. Sorry bout that. So last night I reread what I’ve written so far, and I wasn’t necessarily impressed. There’s a lot stuff I wanted to do in this story and minus a few bits I’m proud of most of it hasn’t been what I wanted it to be. So I’m going to start rewriting it now, rather then doing it later. Basically I wanted to ask you guys how you would like me to go about it. I could start a new story with the same title and stuff and do it from there, or I could edit the new chapters over the old ones, or something else. Dunno. Thanks for reading this obnoxious fanfiction trope, sorry about its general existence. Toodles!

UPDATE: K so I decided to rewrite this under a new work, which has the same name. 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15558543?view_adult=true

That’s the link, I hope. I changed the rating to mature strictly for violence, and I plan on fixing the tags and the like when I get proper internet back, but for now I just wanted to post it because I said that I would. Please do read, even if/especially you’ve read this, because it is vastly different although still basically the same. Thanks for everybody who already likes this iteration, and I hope you like the new one more, because I certainly do. Toodles!


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